When Life Gives You Lemons
by MagickalStar135
Summary: Julie wants a divorce and Wilson agrees but he's suffering and his job is compromised. But that's not what really hurts him, his friendship with House is suffering too. NO SLASH
1. Divorce

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **This is my first try for "House" fan fiction so please excuse when the characters are out of character. To those of you who are praying for an update on my LOTR stories, you're going to have to wait a while. Those are on a hiatus for the next month. Check back around September for one of those.

**Chapter 1: Divorce**

Wilson slammed his car door, wincing when he realized how loud it was. He wasn't in a good mood, and he needed to get his frustration out somehow. Julie was leaving him and they had argued about it that morning before he went to work so he was still feeling bad. It wasn't that he was surprised when she had announced that she was leaving and she would be gone when he got home, he had known it was coming, he was just surprised that she was getting out so quickly and was informing him. His past wives had left him a note on the fridge or no note at all. Julie was trying to be polite about it; she had even said she would like to keep in touch! He didn't mind that so much, he had even told her it would be nice, it had been when she'd told him that he shouldn't call for a few days because her 'friend' Steve might pick up and verbally abuse him when Wilson had lost his temper.

He knew she was having an affair, hell he'd had a few, but it still hurt him to know she was leaving him because she'd found another person she wanted to be with.

'_Good thing we don't have children_,' he thought bitterly.

As he walked to the hospital, he tried to forget the discussion with Julie so that he could focus on the day ahead. He knew he had a leukemia patient to see and he wasn't looking forward to it. It always depressed him to visit the leukemia patients because the hope he saw in their eyes was hard to deal with. Bone marrow donors that matched were hard to come by and it wasn't the same as a patient with lung cancer or colon cancer. The other thing that bothered him about the leukemia patients was that for him they were normally children and he hated seeing such young people suffer.

He shook his head, trying to clear it from such depressing thoughts. '_That's what my job is, though,_' he reminded himself, '_it's depressing._'

Walking through the hospital doors, he tossed everything that had happened with Julie out and focused on what he was going to be doing that day. He had to check on the leukemia patient first, followed by whoever else was scheduled. Visiting House was normal so he'd do that after he'd seen his patients. Then, he probably had a few hours of clinic duty to do before he looked over the day's charts and headed back to his empty house since his soon-to-be ex-wife would be gone.

He sighed, hating himself for thinking about his personal life at work. Work was a place where he worried about other people; not himself.

An elevator reached the ground floor and he headed over to it, got in, and pressed the button for his floor.

"Good morning, Dr. Wilson," a nurse greeted him as he got out of the elevator.

"G'Morning," he replied, heading for his office where his charts were.

"The Herkmin's are here to speak with you about their son," the nurse told him as he walked away.

"Tell them I'll be right with them I just need to grab his chart," Wilson replied and went into his office to grab the chart for Leo Herkmin – the leukemia patient. He gazed at it briefly to remind himself of what was going on and how the chemo was going. When he had that settled in his brain, he went to talk with Leo's parents.

"Is our son going to die?" Mrs. Herkmin asked as soon as Wilson walked into the room.

Wilson held back his sigh and launched into his explanation of what they were doing for the fourteen year-old boy. As soon as the parents seemed semi-satisfied that their son was getting the best treatment possible, the question was asked again.

"Will he die?"

Wilson thought for a moment, trying to decide what to say. He settled on the honest truth. "I don't know." He saw the bewildered look on the parents' faces.

"But you just said…" the father began.

"I know," Wilson said, knowing very well that the previous explanation had sounded like false hope. "Your son is very sick. Cancer is a terrible illness. All I can tell you is that he is doing better and his treatments are working. Now, if he continues to do well…" he continued, explaining to them that their son might get better and might get worse. This was a conversation he had tons of times a day and had to repeat to the patient and their family at almost every visit. It didn't bother him to spell things out for the people – they didn't understand and his explanations comforted them and made them feel more involved.

"Thank you, Doctor," Leo's mother said when he had finished.

"Have a nice day," Wilson replied and quickly left the room. He had three other patients to see and quickly went about checking on them and seeing how they were doing. When he was satisfied that his patients were all as good as could be expected of cancer patients, he headed back to his office to gather himself before he went to visit with House.

He knew that if he walked into House's office feeling as depressed as he was House would catch on and awkwardly inquire as to what was wrong. Wilson would then lie, saying it was a patient, and then they would start the bantering that made up their strange friendship. House's sarcasm could really hurt when the person on the receiving end wasn't feeling up to it. Wilson was depressed about Julie even though he was trying to keep his mind focused on other thoughts.

Sighing softly, he turned from the direction of his office and headed to the elevators that would take him to House's floor. It was probably best to get out of his department and walk around, the fact that he was heading to House's floor and office was merely a coincidence, he told himself.

"It's under control, we don't need you," House greeted as Wilson walked into the conference room where House, Chase, and Foreman were gathered.

"Nice to see you too," Wilson said dryly, pouring himself a cup of coffee and mixing in some milk and sugar.

"Must you always drink my coffee?" House demanded.

"Doesn't Cameron make it?" Wilson asked, taking a sip and sitting down next to Chase who was doing a crossword.

"Yes," Foreman said, looking up from the medical journal he had been looking at. "He just takes the credit."

House rolled his eyes at Foreman. "He's just jealous because his coffee tastes like sewage."

Foreman ignored the barb and turned back to his medical journal.

"Where is Cameron?" Wilson asked, drinking his coffee and noticing she wasn't in the room.

"Patient's room," House said dismissively. "What do you want? We don't have anything for you."

"I was bored," Wilson replied, growing slightly annoyed with the questions.

"No balding kids to play with?" House asked.

Wilson glowered. He wasn't in the mood for House's sarcasm and he wasn't in the mood to be treated like one of House's ducklings. "Don't you have some snotty noses to wipe in the clinic?"

"Ugh," House said. "No. I got out of clinic duty."

"He means he is trying to get Chase to do it," Foreman put in, not looking up from the medical journal.

Wilson smirked a little at House who grinned back.

"The clinic is a waste of time," House said, waving his hand as if to show how little it mattered to him.

"Yes," Wilson said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I forgot. Clinic duty is when you could be watching TV or playing your video games."

"Exactly," House said, giving Wilson an odd look.

Foreman picked up on the weirdness between Wilson and House and decided he didn't want to be around if the two were about to fight. "Come on, Chase, let's head to the clinic and get those hours in."

Chase, who as usual was oblivious to most of what was going on around him, looked up in annoyance. "I've almost finished it."

Foreman rolled his eyes and walked out of the room where Chase sighed and followed after a few seconds.

"Patient?" House asked, starting to walk to the door.

"Huh?" Wilson asked, confused but following House to the elevator.

"Is it a patient? Is that why you're so worked up?" House asked again, pressing the floor for the cafeteria.

"Oh, no," he said, not wanting to have that conversation.

"Oh, then it's your wife," House commented, waiting for the elevator doors to open.

"Yeah," Wilson said, looking at the floor. After a few seconds he sneaked a look at House who had a 'here we go again' look on his face. Wilson sighed; House had traveled with him down the road of divorce before.

"She get the paperwork yet?" House asked, his voice betraying that he felt a little uncomfortable. Private things such as Wilson's problems with his wife weren't usual conversation. Who Wilson was cheating on his wife with was much more appropriate.

"She's going to the lawyer today," Wilson said, heaving a sigh. "She'll probably call me in a week and tell me when we need to meet with the divorce lawyer."

"Nice," House said sarcastically. "You can tell your girlfriend you're single now."

Wilson gave House a horrible look. "I'm not dating anyone, Julie is. She's the one cheating."

House smirked but didn't say anything about Wilson's flings.

"Shut up," Wilson snapped, seeing the smug look on his friend's face.

"I didn't say anything," House replied.

"The look said it all," Wilson said angrily, looking at his feet.

House nodded. "Sorry."

Wilson's head snapped up and he stared at his friend. "I must have misunderstood what you said, could you repeat it? It sounded like you said you were sorry and genuinely so."

House glowered. "I said no such thing." He got out of the elevator as the door closed and headed to the cafeteria.

Wilson smiled privately, knowing his friend was sorry about the marriage and making Wilson feel bad but wouldn't ever admit it again. "She's moving in with some guy named Steve."

"What's he do?" House walked to the food line and grabbed himself a coffee cup to fill up as he listened to Wilson talk.

"He's a realtor, I think," Wilson replied. "I found a business card on her drawer this morning after she told me."

"Oh, so you went upstairs and searched her things?" House smirked a little as Wilson shot him an annoyed look. "You throw things too?"

"It was on her drawer!" Wilson protested. "It's nothing compared to what Katie did when her friends told her they thought they'd seen me in a restaurant with another woman."

House chuckled a little and grabbed some Jell-O and what was probably pasta salad. "I told you Katie was a nut…even before you married her she was crazy."

Wilson shot House a 'you better shut up or I'm going to hit you' look. "It was just on the drawer, I didn't turn her things out and smash everything breakable like Katie did when her friends told her I was seeing someone else."

"You _were _seeing someone else," House pointed out, paying for his food as Wilson picked up a sandwich box.

"That doesn't mean she had to smash all of my things," he countered.

"True, but she was nuts," House replied, balancing the food tray in one hand and using the cane in the other.

Wilson sighed and paid for his own food, before following House to a nearby table and sitting down. "Remember what Emma did when I told her I was leaving?"

"Who could forget the sweet bundle of joy that was your second wife?" House asked sarcastically. "As if your first wife wasn't crazy enough."

Wilson snorted and sipped the juice he'd gotten. "She was scary."

"I don't understand why you married her," House said, biting into his pasta salad and curling his upper lip in disgust. "She was a stalker."

"She was not a stalker!" Wilson protested.

"She filled your answering machine up with death threats after you left," House replied, taking another bite.

"Ok, that was a bit weird…"

House snickered. "Cuddy was worried she was going to come to the hospital with a gun!"

"No, that'd be you," Wilson teased.

House rolled his eyes and put a vicodin in his mouth.

"All right, I'll admit Emma was a bit of a freak, but she was really nice when we were dating," Wilson said honestly.

"Yeah, but when you got married she cheated and got pregnant with some other guy's kid," House replied.

"Which is why she left death threats," Wilson said.

"How do you know it wasn't your kid?" House asked, smirking every so slightly.

Wilson turned crimson and took a big bite of his sandwich. "Me meren't 'aving mex," he mumbled through the sandwich, his face quite red.

House grinned awfully. "You weren't having sex?"

Wilson swallowed. "No."

"Because…" House prompted.

"Shut up, we've gone through this," Wilson said angrily.

House smiled but backed off. He knew Wilson needed some playful bantering and sarcasm, even teasing him about his exes was a good thing, but making him feel bad was another. "So are you coming over tonight?"

Wilson sighed and ran a hand though his hair. "I really don't want to get wasted."

"Looks like you already took out your frustration on your wall," he replied, indicating a bruise on Wilson's forehead. "You bang your head against it?"

Wilson lifted his hand to touch the light purple bruise on his forehead and winced when he pressed it. "No, I ran into the door this morning when I was leaving the house." He had actually. He'd been thinking about other things and had hit his head against the door just as he was opening it; his depth perception off.

"Good job," House said, finishing the pasta and opening the Jell-O. "So are you going to get a steady girlfriend and get married and live happily ever after?"

"Are you going to do the same?" Wilson demanded.

"Nah, I've got internet and Rosy Palm," House shot back.

Wilson made a face between disgust and amusement. "No dating, not for awhile."

"Liar, that's what you said last time. God, you're as bad as my patients when it comes to lying," House complained.

Wilson stuck his tongue out and a serious look came over his face. "I'm too old to go through this again, Greg."

"You're not too old, you're too young. You're in your mid thirties and you've already had two divorces, that's way too young. It's probably time you got serious, though." House finished his Jell-O and sipped his coffee.

Wilson stared at his friend. "Was that compassion?"

"No, compassion is me feeling bad for you, that was me looking out for a friend," House snapped. He looked at Wilson and smiled a little. "You're my friend."

Wilson looked sad for a moment but it quickly passed. "You never cared much before."

"Maybe you're gay," House said thoughtfully. "You're certainly sensitive enough and you're acting like a girl right now."

"Isn't that a little stereotypical?" Wilson asked, ignoring the barb about him being gay. He'd heard that often enough from House he knew better than to come back with a snide remark of his own.

"No, stereotypical would be for me to say…"

"Enough," Wilson snapped, cutting him off.

House smirked. "Are you coming over, you never answered."

"Maybe you're the gay one," Wilson muttered.

House rolled his eyes. "Fine, enjoy your empty house." He got up from the table and bused his tray.

Wilson looked down knowing he'd just blown the chance to go to House's place for the night and actually enjoy himself. If he went now he'd have to endure a bunch of sarcasm and rudeness. He sighed sadly, knowing he was going to be miserable about Julie for a while, and got up from the table to bus his own tray.

**End chapter one. I will do my best to update once every five days or so. Please review I will respond to all reviewers! No flames please.**


	2. Like Always

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N:** Please review! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Responses at the end.

**Chapter 2: Like Always**

_I want so badly to believe that there is truth, that love is real,_

_And I want life in every word to the extent that it's absurd,_

_I know you're wise beyond your years, _

_But do you ever get the feeling,_

_That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?_

_That you tell yourself to help you get by…_

_-The Postal Service_

"Greg!" Wilson called, following his friend out of the cafeteria.

"Bug off you homo," House called back but stopped to wait for Wilson.

Wilson turned pink when some nurses stared, knowing he was going to hear a little gossip. "I'll come by around ten," he informed and started walking with House to the elevator.

"Now they're going to think we're together," House said, getting into the elevator.

Wilson just rolled his eyes and gave House a pointed look. "Like you care."

"I do, actually," House said, faking hurt.

Wilson snickered. "How're the cases?"

"Boring. We've figured everything out and everyone is getting better," House replied. "It sucks, really."

"Oh, yes, it really sucks when patients start to get better," Wilson replied mockingly, getting out of the elevator as the doors opened.

House grinned a little. "You sure you don't want to go out and get drunk?"

"Yeah," Wilson replied. "Why?"

"Curious," House replied.

Wilson looked his friend over as they walked towards House's conference room and was slightly shocked to see how tired Greg looked.

"Stop undressing me with your eyes," House taunted, walking into the conference room and making Cameron and Foreman stare.

"Oh shut up," Wilson snapped. "It's getting old."

"You're sick," Foreman said, getting up to leave.

House ignored him as he left and looked at Cameron. "How's the guy doing?"

"Which one?" Cameron asked looking confused.

"The old one," House replied.

"He's leaving tomorrow," Cameron answered. "He's got strict orders not to eat a lot of salt."

"See what I've been doing?" House said to Wilson. "I've been diagnosing high blood pressure."

Wilson snorted knowing that there had been a lot more to this guy's case. "How's Stacy's husband?"

"He's alive," House said dismissively.

"What did she want to talk to you about the other day?" Wilson asked.

House noticed Cameron's interest and shook his head to indicate that they shouldn't talk about it right then..

Wilson nodded when he saw her watching them intently and said, "Where's Chase?"

"Went home," Cameron said. "He was looking sick so Cuddy told him to leave."

"Clinic will do that to you," House said sarcastically.

Wilson grinned a little and started to leave. "I've got clinic duty." As he walked out the door he said, "I'll call you for a consult if I need one."

House snorted.

"If you don't answer the page I'll tell Cuddy," Wilson taunted, sounding like a five-year-old.

House stuck his tongue out and noticed that Wilson left the room laughing.

"Shouldn't you be checking on patients?" House asked Cameron.

She nodded and left the room, feeling a little jealous of the friendship Wilson shared with House.

House poured himself a glass of water and headed to his office so that he could watch _General Hospital_.

"What?" House demanded as he walked into Exam Room 3 where Wilson had called for a consult. He had just run into Stacy in the hall and was reminded of something she'd said to him about him being 'the one'.

House looked around and noticed a young woman who was looking very dazed sitting on the exam table. He looked to Wilson for an explanation and saw that his friend was holding a baby.

"Here's your newest patient," Wilson said.

"I don't do kids," House replied, eyeing the baby in Wilson's arms.

"It's the woman," Wilson said. "She's unresponsive."

"Why've you got her kid?" House asked.

"She said, 'hold him' and then just fell into shock," Wilson answered.

House frowned and snapped his fingers in front of the woman's face.

"I told you, she's unresponsive," Wilson reminded him. "There's nothing wrong either. Her pulse is normal, temp is 98.6, and her BP is 115/80. Everything is fine."

"Admit her," House said.

"I called for a nurse and she went to get a wheelchair," Wilson told him.

"You're a doctor, why don't you just admit her?" House asked scornfully.

Wilson glared but knew that he should have just done that and left House alone. "You want the case or not?"

"I said to admit her, didn't I?" House demanded and headed for the door.

"What's your problem?" Wilson asked.

House was spared from answering by a nurse who had come with a wheelchair. He slipped out of the exam room and headed back to his office.

"House!"

He muttered a curse and turned. "Cuddy."

"Why aren't you doing clinic duty? We're short since I sent Chase home," Cuddy said. "_You_ were supposed to be down here, not him. You're not supposed to send your team to do your job."

"_You_ shouldn't have sent him home," House snapped, popping a vicodin in his mouth.

"That's not the point," Cuddy said, glaring as he put the pill in his mouth. "Swallow it."

He chewed it just to piss her off and made quite an act of swallowing it when he'd finished chewing. "As I was saying, you shouldn't have sent him home. If he was sick it wouldn't have made any difference because of all of the other sick people around here. No one would have noticed one more."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Do your hours when you're supposed to tomorrow."

"Of course," he said, walking off and leaving Cuddy in the clinic.

"Here," Wilson said, dropping a file on the conference table where House was sitting with Foreman and Cameron.

"What's this and where's the baby?" House asked.

"His father came," Wilson replied. "That's her file."

House picked it up and quickly flipped through it before tossing it to Foreman. "You two figure it out, I'm going home."

"It's only seven," Cameron said.

"Yeah, I was supposed to only be here until six. Enjoy your night," he said and left the room.

"You could treat them like the good doctors they are," Wilson informed House as they walked to get House's things.

"I don't need comments from the peanut gallery," House snapped, walking into his office and grabbing his bag which he flung at Wilson.

"Hey!" Wilson protested but carried the bag.

House walked out of the office, stabbing his cane into the ground in a way that told Wilson he was angry.

"What happened?" Wilson asked, his voice gentle.

"Nothing you can fix so don't bug me," House replied. "Worry about Julie and your crappy marriage."

"That was low," Wilson murmured.

House ignored Wilson and got into the elevator, pressing the button for the parking garage.

Wilson followed House and stayed quite for the elevator ride, sensing his friend needed quite time and also knowing better than to say something when there were nurses in the elevator with them.

When the doors opened for the garage, Wilson and House got out and headed over to House's car.

"Throw it in the front seat," House said, opening the car.

Wilson did as House told him and said, "I'll see you at ten or so." He started to walk back towards the hospital but turned at the sound of his name.

"James," House said seriously, startling Wilson, "don't do anything stupid."

"You sound like my mother," Wilson teased.

House grinned and started the engine. "Use your key if I don't answer," he told Wilson and drove off.

Wilson turned back to the hospital as his friend drove off. He didn't know what was wrong with Greg but he was worried. There were two reasons Wilson would need to use Greg would be too drunk to answer the door and the other was that Greg would be out getting drunk and therefore wouldn't be home.

He wondered why House's mood had suddenly changed from that afternoon to that evening.

Stacy.

'_Shit_,' he thought.

Sighing unhappily, Wilson went to see his last patient of the day.

Before he left the hospital at nine, Wilson went to see Cuddy.

"What's up?" Cuddy asked when she saw Wilson walk in. She noticed him looking slightly dejected and asked, "Oh God, what did he do now?"

"No, no it's not House," Wilson answered. "I just wanted to let you know that I might not…be as available as I normally am."

Cuddy nodded, knowing what Wilson was telling her. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK," Wilson replied.

"If you need anything, James, let me know," Cuddy said honestly.

Wilson smiled at her. "Thanks, Lisa." He and Cuddy had always been pretty good friends, not close like he and House, but he knew he could go to her if he really needed to. "At least I can cook."

Cuddy grinned. "Have a good night."

"You too," Wilson said and left her office.

He knew he wasn't obligated to tell her that his marriage was over, but he thought it was for the best if he prepared her for what might happen. His past two wives hadn't been as insane as he and Greg had joked about, but they had done some pretty radical things when the divorce was finalized so he figured it was probably a good idea to let Cuddy know that he was going through a divorce again.

The first place he went when he left work was his house so that he could grab some clothes and take a quick shower. Julie had left him some food but he didn't eat it. She'd left him a note saying she'd give him a call in a few days and he felt tears sting his eyes. Wiping his eyes in a frustrated way, he left the house feeling a little cleaner but a lot less happy.

Going home and being reminded that Julie wouldn't be there when he got back, depressed him. He hadn't been paying a lot of attention to her in the last months but he'd still welcomed having another person in the house so her absence would leave a void.

'_I could always get a dog_,' he thought sadly.

He thought back to when he and Julie had first met and felt a little guilty. She had been a girl that his brother had set him up with. He felt tears in his eyes again and wiped them away, trying to concentrate on the road. There weren't a lot of people out, but he still couldn't drive, cry, and wipe his eyes at the same time without getting into an accident.

Every mile he traveled to Greg's place made him more depressed and he was feeling more and more like screaming, crying, and hurting something at the same time. He could feel the anger and sadness building up in him and he was a little worried. It had been a long time since he'd felt this depressed and he decided he wouldn't drink just incase he got really drunk and did something really dumb like call Julie and bitch at her or her boyfriend.

He parked the car outside of House's building and headed up to the apartment. Deciding he'd better knock just incase his friend wasn't drunk or gone and snapped at him for barging in; he gave the door a few good taps.

When House answered the door he was surprised. "I thought you'd be at a bar getting into a fight or killing your liver."

"At least I wasn't crying," House taunted but stepped aside to let Wilson in. "I've got pizza." He limped over to the couch where he was watching a soccer game.

Wilson nodded and sat down in a chair to watch the game. He didn't notice House watching him out of the corner of his eye when he didn't move for the pizza or get up to get a beer or soda.

"You're depressed," House observed after Wilson had sat in the chair for an hour and said nothing.

"Obviously," Wilson said sarcastically. "Wouldn't you be if your wife left you and moved in with her boyfriend in the same day?"

"Yeah, I would," House said honestly.

"I really don't want to talk about this," Wilson said after a moment.

"Good," House said, trying to grin, "touchy feely isn't really our thing."

Wilson tried to grin too. "You're right; we're more into tough love."

House snorted. "Chase is into S&M."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Just because of the dominatrix and that pervert a while back you think Chase is a naughty boy? Come on, the guy was in seminary school."

"Can't he be a naughty catholic boy?" House asked.

"I think it's the girls that are bad," Wilson replied, smirking.

"How would you know?" House was grinning wickedly at Wilson.

"I've had enough experience," Wilson said, laughing at House's expression.

"Was your last girlfriend a bad catholic girl?" House asked.

Wilson glowered and a sad look came over his face. "I didn't have a girlfriend; it was Julie who was cheating."

House mentally kicked himself for bringing Julie and the marriage up.

"It's OK," Wilson said, seeing the look on House's face. "I think I'm just going to go home. I really don't want to…" he drifted off, not knowing what he really wanted to say.

"Are you sure? You can have the couch, like always," House offered, trying to cheer his friend up.

"Yeah," Wilson whispered, leaning his head against the chair he was sitting in, "like always."

**Reviewer Responses:**

**TPfreak: **Yeah, it is a good show. Thanks for popping up; I haven't heard from you in a LONG time.

**AnnaK:** Wow! You're already hooked? I feel very honored. Thank you for all of your wonderful compliments. I don't know if I can live up to them but I'll try. I hope you liked this chapter, thanks for being my first reviewer!


	3. Idiot

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **Please forgive me for my limited medical knowledge. I haven't every broken a bone but my cousin did and I had to have him tell me what they did. (He was twelve when it happened and now he's seventeen so I doubt I'm very accurate.) Once again, I'm sorry for messing up but read for entertainment value and not my stupidity.

**Chapter 3: Idiot**

_I think I'll go home and mull this over,_

_Before I cram it down my throat,_

_At long last it's crashed,_

_This colossal mass, _

_Has broken up into bits in my moat_

_- The Shins_

Wilson lay on the couch after House had gone to bed and was contemplating what he was going to do. Going home didn't sound like fun but it was the only thing he could think of that he actually wanted to do. He knew going home would only depress him more but it was probably the only thing that would settle his restlessness.

'_Greg'll understand if I'm not here in the morning_,' he told himself.

He kicked off the blanket he'd been using, got up from the couch, put his jeans on over his boxers, and grabbed his keys. Before he walked out the door, Wilson scribbled a note for House just incase.

_I went home. _

_See you later,_

_James_

He left the note on the couch and let himself out of the apartment.

As he drove home, he tried not to remember that it was four in the morning and he couldn't sleep because his wife had left him. Thinking of Julie only depressed him and he did his best to focus on the road; but of course he couldn't. His concentration was slipping and he didn't notice when his right foot pressed the gas peddle a little harder than it should have, he didn't realize that his grip on the wheel was slipping because his hands were sweaty, and when the car crashed into a wall he didn't even feel the impact…

* * *

"Ow," Wilson moaned when he came to. He could see paramedics standing over him and he cursed inwardly. 

"Don't move his arm, Linda," one of the men said, "it looks like he broke it."

"Sir," the woman named Linda said, "Sir, we're taking you to Princeton General Hospital. You've been in a car crash."

"I know," Wilson replied. He didn't feel too bad for being in a car crash; his airbag must have saved him from most of the impact. Going to Princeton General was probably a blessing. If he went to Princeton-Plainsboro Cuddy would find out and fuss and then call House who would bitch at him for being so stupid. Besides, if he had evaluated his pain correctly the only thing he had really hurt was his left arm. He was left-handed but he could make due with his right arm for a few weeks.

"Can you tell us your name?" Linda asked.

"James Wilson," Wilson replied, knowing she would ask him a bunch of questions to check for a concussion.

"When were you born?" she asked.

Wilson answered, knowing she had his driver's license and was checking to make sure he was correct. He answered all of her questions correctly and then had to endure a quick flashlight check in his eyes. That had always been his least favorite part because his eyes were sensitive and he would tear.

"We're here," the driver called from the front.

Linda nodded and she and the two male paramedics opened the door and pulled the stretcher that was Wilson was lying on out of the ambulance.

"You seem to be fine," Linda told him, "but one of our doctors will examine you to see how you're doing. We're going to X-ray that arm because it looks like you broke it. Just lie on your back while we wheel you in."

Wilson sighed. He knew this was all standard procedure but he wished they would just get a wheel chair. He wasn't allowed to walk in under his own power because if he fell he could sue for malpractice.

"Would you be more comfortable in a wheel chair?" Linda asked when a nurse came out to meet them.

"Yes," Wilson replied. His arm was hurting but the rest of his body felt allright; they would probably clear him and tell him to call someone to pick him up after they set his arm in a cast. He wasn't too sure how he'd broken his arm but he figured it had to be the way his car had crashed and his arm had gotten smashed in the door or something. It didn't really matter to him how his arm had been broken, all that mattered was that it hurt like hell.

Linda nodded. "Susie will help you in to a wheel chair once you get into the hospital and get an X-Ray."

Susie, the nurse, walked with the paramedics into the hospital. "Do you have an ID for him?"

"Yes," one of the male paramedics said, handing Wilson's driver's license over.

Susie took the ID and went to admit Wilson to the hospital as Linda passed the stretcher off to another nurse who took him to get an X-Ray.

"I'm Li Mei," the woman told him with a slight Chinese accent that made Wilson look at her and decide she was a very pretty woman. "Dr. Laski will be with you in a moment." She stopped pushing the stretcher when they got into the room and pulled up a chair that rolled. "Do you need help?"

"No," Wilson replied and pushed himself up, hugging his left arm to his chest because the slightest movement hurt it.

Li Mei held the chair for him and did actually help him to sit down. "Put your arm on here." She put a lead block down on the table and indicated for him to rest his left arm on it in a certain way. "This will hurt," she said and adjusted the way his arm was on the block.

Wilson winced and bit his tongue so as not to cry out or mutter an obscenity. "How long have you been a nurse for?" he asked, trying to get his mind off of everything.

"About three years," she answered. "I'm going back to medical school to become an ER doctor." She got up and went over behind the machine. "Now don't move."

Wilson closed his eyes because of the X-Ray and waited as she unloaded the X-Ray machine and then took the lead block.

"I'll be right back, I need to develop these," she told him and walked out of the room.

Wilson leaned back against the chair and called himself every stupid name he could think of. It wasn't even six in the morning and he had been in a car accident and broken his arm. '_At least it wasn't anything serious_,' he told himself.

"I'm Dr. Laski," a man said from the door. He was much older than Wilson and Wilson guessed him to be in his late fifties. Dr. Laski looked like a very happy man who had seen many tragic things, Wilson decided. His blue-green eyes had a very old look to them and his face told the story of hardship even though he had lots of laugh lines around his mouth and crow's feet by his eyes.

"Nice to meet you," Wilson replied courteously.

Dr. Laski pinned up Wilson's X-Ray and switched the light on. He studied the X-Ray and Wilson did the same.

"Shit," he muttered. "I really did break it." He saw that he'd snapped his wrist. "At least it's a clean break."

Dr. Laski gave Wilson an amused look and said teasingly, "You've got some medical knowledge I see."

Wilson blushed. "I'm an oncologist."

"Ah," Laski replied, a smile on his face old face. "You're right about the arm. You'll need a cast for about the next six weeks or so. It should heal well, you're pretty lucky. The medics said your car is totaled."

Wilson closed his eyes. "Wonderful."

Dr. Laski chuckled. "Is there anyone you'd like us to call?"

"No," he replied, not wanting to bug House or alert Cuddy. They'd find out soon enough.

"All right," Laski said. "Well, I'll send a nurse to take you so that they can get a cast on that arm, but you're free to go when they're done. The police have alerted your insurance company and everything else seems to be checking out. Just go home and get some sleep."

Wilson nodded, thinking that sounded like a good idea. "Thanks, Doctor."

Laski grinned at him. "Have a nice night and take some Ibuprofen if your arm starts to feel really nasty."

Wilson smiled back and said goodbye as Dr. Laski left the room.

Li Mei, the Chinese nurse, came back into the room with a wheelchair. "Dr. Laski said you need a cast. I'll take you down there and set the broken bone." She reached her hand down to help him up and into the wheelchair.

"I've got it," Wilson said, and pushed himself to his feet and then sat down in the chair.

Li Mei started to push him out of the door and down the hall. "So what do you do?"

"I'm head of oncology at Princeton-Plainsboro," Wilson replied.

"Wow," Li Mei said. "That must be a tough job; being around people who rarely live long." She headed him over to the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

"It can be," he answered, trying not to be rude. He bit his tongue to keep from saying, '_it's hard to watch someone die in the ER too'_. He didn't want to discourage her from becoming and ER doctor even though nurses saw plenty themselves.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the trip to the room where the plaster was kept. When they entered the room, Li Mei had him sit in the corner. She had the X-Ray and looked at it so as to see how the bone needed to be set.

"This will really hurt," she told him.

Wilson nodded and gritted his teeth. "I know."

Setting the bone took only a few seconds but Wilson yelped a little.

Li Mei smiled at him and Wilson blushed. "Do you want white or another color? We've got blue, green, purple, orange, and black. We even have one with teddy bears."

Wilson chuckled at the thought of going to work with a teddy bear cast or even a purple one. "White is probably the best."

She laughed a little herself and nodded before setting to work.

The whole process of making the cast took quite a while but Wilson's arm felt much better when it was done. He was grateful that it had been his wrist because it meant the cast didn't go over his elbow and he had the use of most of his arm.

"I'll take you to the front where you can sign the forms and call someone to come pick you up," Li Mei said. "You were an easy patient. I've found doctors to be the worst."

Wilson smiled at her. "I know my place."

She chuckled and pushed him to the front before saying goodbye.

He got out of the wheel chair and signed the forms after calling a taxi to pick him up from the hospital.

"We have your wallet and other items," the nurse at the front said, handing him the keys to his ruined car, his wallet, pager, and broken cell phone.

"Thanks," he said, and walked out of the hospital, feeling a little weak, so that he could meet his taxi. It struck him as a little strange that they didn't keep him for observation, but he was fine and it was probably for the best that he was discharged.

* * *

The taxi ride was boring for Wilson since the driver was an older woman with limited English. When they reached his house, he paid her and got out of the cab. 

The keys to his house were on his car key ring so he let himself in. It was nearly nine and he just wanted to sleep. He knew it was probably best if he called Cuddy and decided to do that before falling asleep.

* * *

House looked at the clock in his office and sighed. It was after eleven and Wilson still hadn't come by. He was used to his friend coming by in the morning to chat a little but didn't pay much attention to him not being there. He just figured Wilson had had a patient to see or was in the clinic. 

Muttering to himself angrily when he saw his ducklings were in the conference room, he got up and went to sit with them so that they could talk about their newest case.

* * *

Wilson had called Cuddy when he'd gotten home from the hospital to tell her he'd be in around twelve because he was caught up. She had replied that he could take all the time he needed so he'd taken a nap. He felt bad because he knew she thought something had happened with Julie. She was bound to notice the cast on his wrist so he'd go to her as soon as he got to work and tell her what happened, knowing she would probably want to get an X-Ray of it herself. 

He'd woken up at eleven fifteen and had called a taxi to take him to work before he hopped in the shower, figuring it would take about a half hour or so for the cab to come.

'_I need to call Julie to tell her about the car and everything,_' he thought as he got out of the shower and changed his clothes. Deciding that he would call her from work, he went out to wait for the taxi since being in the house depressed him.

He had a bag with him, his pager was in it and he was surprised it hadn't been damaged. He also had a change of clothes and his lab coat. He didn't know why he had taken the coat home when he could have just left it at work, but he didn't bother thinking it over too much.

"Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital," he told the cab driver when he pulled up.

"'K," the guy said and drove off.

As the guy drove, Wilson wondered how much money he'd be spending on taxis if he didn't rent a car or just buy a new one. From what he had been told, the car was totaled and it had been hauled off to a dump. If that was the case, he didn't want to get it fixed since it would cost too much to get it repaired and the car wasn't worth what he would be paying.

'_I guess I could always bother Greg for a ride_,' he thought.

When Wilson finally got to the hospital – the taxi driver had taken the longest way possible so as to get more money – he headed straight for Cuddy's office to tell her he was there and see if he was needed in the clinic. He knew he had patients to see later that day, but he was free until six.

Donning his lab coat, he walked in to Cuddy's office. "'Afternoon," he greeted her.

"What's up?" she asked, looking up from her desk to smile at him.

"What time do I have clinic duty?" He settled for something easy, something that probably wouldn't make her wonder too much about why he'd come to see her.

Cuddy frowned, knowing that wasn't what Wilson had wanted to say. "One of the other doctors did it for you but you could take his shift. It's three until five."

Wilson nodded and took a seat. "Sorry I took so long."

"It's fine, I understand," she said. She looked at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he replied waving his left arm and forgetting about the cast.

"What did you do?" Cuddy asked, her eyes growing wide. "Who put a cast on that and why wasn't I alerted?"

Wilson smirked a little but didn't make a comment about how Cuddy didn't need to know every little thing about the hospital. "I crashed my car and was taken to Princeton General."

"So that is why you weren't here," Cuddy stated but frowned when she realized that he'd just broken his arm a few hours before. "Aren't you in pain?"

"A little but I'll be all right. I had a long nap." Wilson grinned at her.

Cuddy sighed a little in a way that said she clearly thought he was being stupid. "Well, tell me if you need anything. I'll be here."

"Thanks," he told her and left the room. It was past twelve and he was getting hungry. Deciding he'd better go get something to eat, he headed to the cafeteria for something that resembled food. He didn't think too much about her being all right with the fact that he'd just been in a car crash and was going to work.

* * *

House left his office and headed to the clinic when he'd finished looking over the chart of his newest patient. He'd given his ducklings a few things to check for and had Foreman doing and MRI. He cursed Cuddy for making him work in the clinic from two until six and was grumpy when he called his first patient.

"My ankle hurts," a man in his early twenties, told him when they reached Exam Room 2.

"Did you fall?" House asked.

"Yeah, I was in the park with my girlfriend and I tripped over a tree root," the man told him.

"Nice way to end a crappy date," House said sarcastically.

"Can you do anything for it?" the man asked. "It really hurts."

"It can't hurt too badly, you walked in here under your own power," House pointed out.

"So? That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," the man replied.

"Get on the table," House commanded, "and stick your leg out."

The guy did as he was told and yelped when House grabbed his left foot.

"Well, you're not faking it. It's a little swollen. Just go home and ice it. Twenty minutes on and twenty minutes off," House informed him in a bored tone.

"Can you wrap it up?" The man was looking at his swollen ankle.

"Would that make you feel better?" House asked, an annoyed look on his face.

"Sort of," the guy answered with a shrug.

"No," House told him. "I don't need to wrap it. Go home and ice it, maybe your girlfriend will massage it."

The man glowered but left the room with an obvious limp.

House grinned as the man limped out and went to call his next victim.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Ivory Novelist: **SQUEE! Sorry, you're my favorite '_House M.D._' writer and I bounced up and down when you reviewed. Thank you soooo much for the compliments, they mean a lot. I totally agree with "House and Wilson friendship forever!" You're right about Wilson, the man is totally awesome and it my second favorite on the show (well, perhaps he ties with House) Oh, and if you really want friendship interaction, wait until the next chapter. There's plenty of it to make you laugh and go "aw…" Once again, thanks for the review, it made me feel really good.

**Princess Squirrel: **I'm glad I had you laughing; it's always nice to hear that sort of thing. I do apologize for the mistakes but I don't have a beta for this fic. It's hard sometimes to proofread your own writing. I went over this one a few more times and I found everything I think is noticeable. Thanks for letting me know that you found the link on the site, I'm happy to know people read that I posted it! Thanks again!

**Longing4house: **lol! You're review was innocent but perfect. I know how you feel about people updating. I hope this was soon enough. Expect the next chapter on Saturday or so.

**Thanks again to all of my reviewers; please review again! **


	4. Fatigue

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me. The definitions are from Webster's Dictionary.

**A/N: **I'm really depressed right now about some things so I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little off. I went over it but I don't think I did a very good job. Please review! Responses at the bottom.

**Chapter 4: Fatigue**

_**Fatigue:** weariness or exhaustion from labor, exertion, or stress._

_ The temporary loss of power to respond induced in a sensory _

_receptor or motor end organ by stimulation.  
_**  
**

Wilson walked into the clinic and grabbed a chart. "Diego Collazo," he called, and seeing a woman with a small boy he nearly groaned. The kid looked fine from what he could tell but he led the woman to Exam Room 1 and told her to sit down.

"What's the problem?" he asked nicely, trying not to snap at her like House would have. He liked kids just fine, but he got angry with the parents when they dragged in a perfectly healthy kid.

"He's been sneezing a lot," she told him.

Wilson nodded and took his stethoscope out and put it around his neck. "He might have asthma." He reviewed the chart and saw that the little boy had been prescribed Ventalin. "Never mind, he does have asthma. Has he been using his inhaler?"

"He says it tastes bad and won't use it," the woman replied.

Wilson looked at the boy who was looking at him with solemn brown eyes. "You could try Claritin but the medicine he was prescribed is what will work best. Besides, if he is using it properly he shouldn't taste anything."

"How'd you break your arm?" the little boy asked before the mother could respond.

"I crashed my car," Wilson replied.

"I broke my foot last year," he told Wilson.

"Really?" Wilson asked, smiling at Diego's mother who smiled back.

"Yeah," Diego said. "Daddy dropped a plate on it when he was kissing Mommy in the kitchen."

Wilson bit his lips to keep from laughing and then felt a wave of sadness overcome him. He had Julie had been happy and done things like that before. Not broken a plate on a child's foot, but they had kissed and broken some things. Shaking it off, he looked at the woman who had wide eyes and was blushing slightly.

"Is there anything else I should know?" she asked, obviously embarrassed.

"No," Wilson replied. "The Claritin ought to help, but I still think you should give the Ventalin another go."

She nodded, took her son's hand, and quickly led him out of the room.

Wilson chuckled and walked out of the exam room. He picked up another chart and was about to call the patient's name when he heard House say his name.

"Where have you been? I mourned you at lunch," House told him, dropping off a chart. Seeing a pen in Wilson's right hand he said, "You're left handed."

"I can't hold a pen in my right hand? What is the world coming to?" Wilson rolled his eyes and called his patient.

A woman in her late sixties walked over to him.

"Follow me," Wilson told her, leading her to Exam Room 2.

House trailed after them and said, "Do I sense a little hostility?" when Wilson tried to shut the door on him.

Wilson rolled his eyes when House came in and shut the door. "What's bothering you, Mrs. Scott?"

"I've been shaking a lot," the woman told him.

"Where?" Wilson asked, ignoring House who was rolling his eyes and had an 'are you kidding me' look on his face.

"My hands mostly, but my legs'll shake when I rest them a certain way sometimes," Mrs. Scott answered.

Wilson picked the chart up along with a pen. He scribbled something with his right hand, being sure to keep the cast on his left hand hidden so that House didn't say something in front of the woman.

"Why aren't you using your left hand?" House asked, watching Wilson intently.

"I'm giving my right one some practice," Wilson snapped. "Shut up." He looked at Mrs. Scott. "Could you show my how you're shaking, please?"

She nodded and held her right hand out which shook a little.

"Have you been feeling weak?" Wilson asked, ignoring House who looked about ready to start yelling at the lady.

"Yes," she replied.

"Have you been sleeping well?" he inquired, knowing that she was fatigued.

"I've been watching the late night shows so I haven't been going to bed as early as I normally do." She looked at him. "Is that why I've been shaking?"

"Yes," he answered. "It's fatigue."

"What do I do about it?" she asked.

"You sleep," House answered.

"Oh," she muttered. "That's easy; and I can always tape the shows."

House rolled his eyes and Wilson shot him a look that said, 'be nice, you ass'. "Anything else?" Wilson asked her.

"No, thank you, Doctor," she told him and walked out of the room.

Wilson made a note in her chart and signed off on it before getting up to leave.

"You really care about your patients," House said contemptuously.

"You make it sound like a crime," Wilson said with a frown.

House rolled his eyes. "Don't turn sentimental on me." He walked out of the room with Wilson.

"Can I get a ride home with you?" Wilson asked, dropping Mrs. Scott's file off at the nurse's station.

"Can't; I've got something to do," House said, following Wilson who had called another patient.

"You've got a date with Rosy Palm, I know," Wilson said sarcastically to House. To his patient he said, "What's the problem?"

"I've had an earache for the last four days," the man said.

"Do you swim a lot?" Wilson asked, grabbing a flashlight and attaching the bit used to look into ears.

"Yeah," the man answered. "Do you think it's swimmer's ear?"

"Most likely," Wilson answered, looking in the man's ear. "Yeah, it's inflamed." He grabbed a pen and a script sheet and scribbled a prescription on it. "Take these twice a day; it should help with the infection."

"Anything else?" the guy asked.

"Try not to go swimming for a few weeks. And it might help to get ear plugs in the future," Wilson told him, holding the script out.

"Thanks, Doc," the guy said, taking the prescription and leaving the room.

Wilson sighed and sank into a chair. "I'm tired."

"How'd you get those cuts on your face?" House asked, noticing that Wilson had some scratches on his cheeks and forehead.

Wilson sighed and shook his head. He didn't know why he was keeping the crash from House; he only knew he didn't want his friend to curse at him.

"Oh, quit lying to me; you're worse than my patients. What happened and why aren't you using your left hand?" House demanded, losing patience with Wilson.

"I broke it," Wilson muttered quietly.

"Yo-you what?" House asked, not sure if he'd heard him correctly.

"I was in a car crash this morning and I broke my wrist," Wilson answered wearily.

"You fucking idiot," House snapped. "Why did you come to work?" He paused and then said thoughtfully, "That would be a really good excuse for Cuddy."

"I have patients to see," Wilson replied, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I feel awful."

"No shit, Sherlock," House said angrily. "Why didn't you call me? Who the hell treated you?"

"A guy called Dr. Laski at Princeton General," Wilson replied.

"You're such a fucking idiot," House informed his friend. "Go home and get some rest. Hell, I'll take you. What a stupid thing to do."

Wilson snorted. "Shut up, Greg, I'm trying to sleep."

House rolled his eyes. "Did you tell Julie?"

Wilson's eyes flew open. "I meant to call her." He got up and swayed on his feet.

"You're obviously uninjured except for the arm," he said dryly, noticing that Wilson didn't look too steady on his feet. He looked at Wilson's cast. "You should have gotten the teddy bear cast. I know they have them at Princeton General. We have them here too if you'd like it."

"Shut up," Wilson said and walked out of the room. He went over to the nurse's station. "Four thirty six, Dr. Wilson checks out."

The nurse scribbled it down on the time sheet dutifully and went back to what she had been doing.

House didn't check out, he just followed Wilson to the oncology department.

"Do you mind?" Wilson asked when House followed him into his office and sat down.

"No," House replied.

"Get out!" Wilson snapped.

House snorted but did as he was told. "Don't want me around when Wifey screams at you?"

Wilson shot House a horrible glare that made House laugh.

"How she take it?" House asked when Wilson walked out of his office looking harassed.

"Well, she was concerned at first but when she found out I totaled the car and it would go on her insurance record she wasn't too happy," Wilson replied and then said brokenly, "I could hear her boyfriend in the background."

House looked at his friend sympathetically. "I'll take you home."

Wilson looked at House and smiled slightly. Greg could be a pretty good guy even though he rarely showed it. "Are you concerned?"

"No, I just don't want to get blamed if you die in your office," House replied coolly.

"Cuddy didn't seem too worried," Wilson told him.

"Cuddy has her mind in the clouds today. I think someone she knows died," House said, shrugging to show how little it mattered to him.

"I can't leave, I've got patients." Wilson sighed and collapsed into a hall chair. "I think I'm going to die here."

"Welcome to my life," House said dryly, sinking into a chair next to Wilson. He liked the chairs that were placed in the hall, they were squishy and some of them rolled around.

"What life?" Wilson teased. He leaned his head against the wall, wishing he was in his bed sleeping.

House snorted. "I can't believe the hospital let you out. You're obviously injured." He could see that Wilson was in pain by the way he held himself stiff.

Wilson noted that House was being serious again and so he replied, "I don't think they thought I'd go to work. I'd probably be fine if I had just stayed home and slept."

"You're probably more fatigued than that idiot in the clinic," House snapped. He was looking at Wilson the way he would look at an interesting case only he had concern in his eyes.

"And people say you're uncaring," Wilson told him with a chuckle, his eyes still closed and not seeing the worry or care that House had written on his face.

"Come on, let's go," House commanded, this time much more seriously.

"You do actually care about our friendship," Wilson said, sounding truly surprised. He opened his eyes and looked at House. "I've got to tell Cuddy I'm leaving and so do you."

House rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He didn't say anything about Wilson's friendship comment. Wilson was the only person he really cared about in the world other than himself and he knew that Wilson knew that even though they rarely spoke of it.

Wilson shrugged out of his lab coat and pulled the stethoscope out of his pocket. He draped the coat over his arm and walked back into his office to retrieve his bag and leave his coat and stethoscope.

"How bad's the break?" House asked when Wilson walked back in to the hall.

"It's clean," Wilson replied, absently rubbing the cast on his left wrist.

"Pain?" House questioned, sounding genuinely concerned. He got to his feet and scrutinized the cast.

"What's wrong?" Wilson asked. "You're never this nice to me. Don't tell me it's nothing and you're just worrying about a friend because that's bull. I know something happened. Was it Cameron?"

House sighed and shook his head. "Stacy's bugging me."

Wilson's eyebrows shot up. "I thought you two were avoiding each other for the most part."

They started heading in the direction of Cuddy's office. House had to walk slower than he normally did because Wilson was moving slowly. He hoped it wasn't because of something that had happened in the accident but Wilson said he had only broken his wrist and that had been the extent of damage – other than his totaled car of course.

"We were," House answered. "I was just dwelling on something she said, but it's not too important."

"It's important enough to change your character," Wilson pointed out.

"Why do you care so much?" House demanded.

"I'm weak," Wilson replied with a shrug. "I care. You're my friend."

"You need more friends," House muttered.

"You _need_ friends," Wilson shot back.

"Why? So that they can fuss over me like you do? I don't need that," House grumbled, his cane punctuating his annoyance.

Wilson sighed and stumbled a little.

House saw him stumble and said, "You want to borrow my cane?"

Wilson shot him a nasty look and stuck his tongue out. "Soon I'll be bitching at patients and popping Vicodin."

"Oh, you want some for the pain?" House asked with an impish grin on his face. He got into an elevator and Wilson followed blindly, not noticing that there were other people in the elevator with them.

Wilson laughed. "Are we going to start writing scripts for each other? Is that what our life has been reduced to?"

"Don't forget that we'll steal each other's medicine," House put in, causing Wilson to roll his eyes.

"Ugh, we sound like a married…" Wilson's voice trailed off and he looked ahead of him, not realizing that he'd climbed into an elevator full of people. He turned red, which caused House to laugh, and rubbed his face.

House got out of the elevator when it reached Cuddy's floor and Wilson followed, his cheeks still slightly pink.

"Don't think about Julie," House said to him after a moment. "She's not worth it."

Wilson snorted but his eyes teared a little. He knew what House said was true; he shouldn't worry too much about Julie.

House looked a little embarrassed that Wilson had tears in his eyes so he looked away. He saw Cuddy coming out of her office. "Cuddy!" he barked at her, limping over.

"What?" she asked him in an annoyed tone.

"Why didn't you send Wilson home when he showed up?" he wanted to know.

She looked at Wilson who was looking a lot worse than he had that morning. "I was thinking about something else."

"Nice reason," House replied dryly. "I'm leaving; Wilson's about to die."

Wilson looked at the floor feeling like a child whose mother was yelling at the teacher about something ridiculous. He sneaked a look at Cuddy who was eyeing him with concern. "I'm not dead yet," he muttered loud enough for them to hear. He saw Cuddy crack a smile and House roll his eyes.

"Alright, leave," Cuddy said, "but, House, so help me God; if you are not here tomorrow to do your clinic hours I'll murder you."

House looked at Cuddy with a look of pure shock laced with amusement. "Yes, Sir! Come on, Wilson, I think she means business."

Wilson gave Cuddy a very apologetic look that made her smile. "I've got a patient at six…could you…?"

"Yeah, I'll get someone to cover," she replied. "Get some sleep; I'll understand if you're not here tomorrow."

Wilson nodded and followed House out of the hospital.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Ivory Novelist: **Thanks for the praise I am really happy you like it. As for the fluff, most of it is in the next chapter. Sorry about that, I had to move it over since the chapter was starting to feel strange.

**Flamesofthemo0m: **I liked your review! It made me laugh. However, when it comes to Wilson and House they might be good friends but it seems that House still likes to pick at Wilson. I know they're good friends, so I hope you like the fluffy chapter that is coming up!

**Forgottengargoyle: **:Smiles: I am really happy you like where I'm going. I really do appreciate the praise. I know I haven't done the best job with characters, but I am trying my best. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to review, your review really cheered me up because it was wonderful. Glad you're hooked!


	5. Never Lasts

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **I'm leaving on Friday so you probably won't get another update until the seventh of August. I'm sorry about that. If I can get to a computer I promise I'll have chapter six up!

**Chapter 5: Never Lasts**

_The shortest distance between two people is a smile._

Wilson fell asleep in House's car on the way to his house. It let Wilson have a twenty minute nap, but when they reached Wilson's home, House shook Wilson awake and felt bad about doing so since his friend looked so tired.

"We're at your house."

He watched Wilson open his eyes and blink a few times to clear his vision. It made him feel bad to know that James was so tired but he could go back to sleep when he was in his bed.

"Come in with me," Wilson said pitifully when he was finally awake enough to unbuckle his seatbelt and open the door. He didn't want to be alone in his house with no company when he was feeling like he'd been run over by a truck. That wasn't too far off from crashing into a wall and he wondered why he'd been stupid enough to go to work.

"Fine, but I draw the line at sleeping with you," House informed him with a smirk on his face.

"Good 'cause nobody wants that," Wilson shot at him with a smirk on his own face.

House snorted. "I don't have any clothes here," he muttered to himself but opened the car door and used his cane to help him get his balance before he got to his feet and limped into Wilson's house.

"I have plenty of your clothes," Wilson told him as he followed. "So stop complaining."

"You have _plenty_ of my clothes?" House asked with a strange look on his face. "That's…kinda creepy."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "You would consider that to be a sexual innuendo."

"You wish, Mr. 'Come In With Me'," House muttered, giving Wilson a smile which was quickly returned.

Wilson dug his hand into his pocket for his keys and closed his eyes. "Shit, I left the keys in my lab coat; and that's back at the hospital."

House snorted and fished Wilson's spare from his key ring. "You curse like a sailor," he informed Wilson and pushed open the door.

"And you're better how?" Wilson asked, grinning a little.

"I have a more polysyllabic vocabulary," House said, trying to sound outraged.

"Especially when it comes to swear words," Wilson said dryly, walking into his house and collapsing on the couch.

"Are you hungry?" House asked, sitting down on the couch next to Wilson.

"There's some food in the fridge," Wilson replied, making himself comfortable on the couch by taking his jacket off and loosening his tie.

"I bet its Julie's food. She's into all of that soy crap," House mumbled angrily.

Wilson snorted. "If you want to pay, order something you want. Just don't make it pizza; I've had enough of an all pizza diet."

"Go eat Julie's soy cubes," House snapped. "I'll get what I want."

Wilson sighed. "Maybe I should just cook."

"You'll burn yourself," House replied. "You need to rest." He was worried about Wilson, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job at worrying and not letting on that he was worried. He hated for people to know when he cared, it made him feel slightly vulnerable.

"I'll be fine," Wilson replied, trying to smother a yawn. "Well, maybe just a small nap." He closed his eyes and House soon heard the rhythmic breathing that told him James was asleep.

House looked at his sleeping colleague and wished James had called him when he had gotten to Princeton General. Sure, he would have yelled at Wilson, but now that he hadn't been there, he was worried that James was hurt and didn't know it. It didn't sound like he'd been given an MRI and House hadn't noticed any symptoms of a concussion or any other sort of head trauma so he figured Wilson's brain was probably fine.

The wrist was the least of his concern. It sucked that Wilson would have to use his right hand but James had always been pretty good at writing with both hands and now he'd be able to improve the skill.

The only thing that really concerned House was Wilson's mental state because of Julie. He was pretty sure the car crash had happened because Wilson had been dwelling on Julie and the fact that she was moving in with the man she had been cheating on James with. If that was true, and James was depressed about Julie, he might suggest that Wilson go to a shrink or keep a journal or something. House wasn't sure; he wasn't too good with the touchy feely kind of thing.

Chastising himself for worrying too much about Wilson, House pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial for his favorite Italian restaurant.

* * *

Wilson woke at eleven PM and saw that Greg had moved from the couch and was now sitting on a chair with his leg propped up, watching cartoons. "Are you kidding me?" Wilson asked, seeing that 'Garfield and Friends' was the cartoon House was watching.

"It was either this or the news and I really don't care about who is bombing who," House replied. "You need to get cable."

"I _have_ direct TV," Wilson snapped. "It's not my fault if you can't figure out how to use it."

"I couldn't find the remote for the satellite." House grinned at Wilson who was looking heavenward with a 'Dear, God why me?' sort of look. "I got Italian if you want some."

"We sound like we're a couple," Wilson muttered.

"Stop bringing that up," House snapped. He turned the TV off and pushed himself to his feet. "Do you want food or not? I only have so much niceness to use per year and I've used five years' worth in the last eight hours."

Wilson smirked a little and got to his feet. He walked to the kitchen feeling slightly disoriented. "What did you get?" Wilson asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a brown paper bag.

"Chicken pasta," House replied. "Drink milk, not soda," he added when he saw Wilson grab a _Sprite_.

Wilson stared at House with a look of amusement and annoyance. "What are you, my mother?"

"It's good for your bones," House answered, a small smile on his face.

"I'm a doctor too," Wilson reminded him but took the milk out of the fridge and poured himself a glass. "I haven't had a glass of milk in the longest time," he muttered after taking a few sips.

House snickered. "Enjoy your food; I'm going to take a shower. Where can I get clothes?"

"In my room, just hunt for something," Wilson replied, putting some of the chicken pasta that House had gotten onto a plate.

"You and I don't wear the same size," House replied. "Where are the piles of my clothes you are hiding?"

"Look on the stool in the bedroom." Wilson put the food into the microwave and took another sip of milk.

"If I can't find it, I am calling you," House told him and limped off to Wilson's bedroom.

Wilson sighed and looked around the kitchen. Everything that had been Julie's was gone except for the food. He didn't see any of her kitchen trinkets around nor did he see the picture of her brother with his wife and her sister with her husband and their children. That was probably another reason Julie had gone. They didn't have any kids to keep them together and they had never really tried. His marriage to Julie had really sucked but he hadn't thought it would end so soon. They'd only been together for a few years; which, when he really thought about it, had been a long few years.

It was hard to live with someone when you weren't compatible. He loved Julie, he thought she was a really sweet woman, but he just wasn't in love with her and they didn't have a lot in common. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever actually been in love with Julie. '_Why do I even bother getting married?_' he asked himself. '_It never lasts._'

He sank in to a chair and didn't hear his microwave beep. His head went in to his hands and he sat that way for a while, not hearing House come up behind him and say his name. It wasn't until House put a hand on his back that Wilson stopped wallowing in self pity enough to look up at him.

"Your food's done," House said. He wasn't sure what to say to Wilson. Sure, he'd been there for the decline of the first two marriages, but he'd never really been around for when Wilson broke down. He'd seen Wilson cry plenty of times, but most of them had been when they were at House's apartment and were drunk or half-asleep.

Wilson let his head fall in to his arms and House winced when he heard the hard smack of Wilson hitting his head against his cast. "Ow," Wilson moaned. "That hurt."

"Casts take some getting used to," House said, trying not to laugh.

"Thanks, I didn't know that," Wilson said dryly, lifting his head from his arm. "Weren't you going to take a shower?"

"I did," House replied. "You've been sitting there, crying, for the last half hour." He looked at Wilson intently, wondering if his prickly friendship would be enough to help Wilson through the third divorce.

The first divorce had been Wilson's fault, but he had been only twenty eight and fresh out of med school. House knew Wilson had cheated on Katie after they'd been married only seven or eight months; the divorce had come three months later and the marriage hadn't even lasted a year. The second divorce, House knew Wilson blamed himself for too even though it hadn't all been his fault. Emma had messed up too.

Wilson had blamed his youth when the marriage to Katie had ended. But Emma, Wilson had told House, Emma would be different. He had been thirty when he and Emma had gotten married and he'd had a good job at one of the other hospitals in the Princeton area to keep them comfortable. However, four months in to the marriage, he had received the job at Princeton-Plainsboro in the oncology department. Since House worked at PPTH and House was his best friend, Wilson started to spend more time at work and less with his wife. After three months, Emma had started to complain about how he was never around so Wilson had tried to be there for her and found that he couldn't stand her much anymore. They stopped sleeping together and soon Wilson was trying to ignore her.

The couple had grown apart once Wilson had started working at Princeton-Plainsboro and after another month, Wilson was made head of the department (the position he had been promised when he had first moved to the hospital) and soon was put on the board. That caused him to spend more time at work, and less with Emma. It was only a month after he had made head of oncology when House had his infarction. As soon as Wilson learned of the infarction, he was at the hospital more often than he normally was; which caused Emma distress and resulted in her cheating on him and getting pregnant with another guy's kid. Once the pregnancy had happened, Wilson filed for divorce and left her.

During the infarction, Wilson had been too worried about House to do much serious dating. But after a few years, Wilson's brother had decided James needed to get back out there and set him up with a few girls. Julie had been James's favorite and after they had been dating for seven months, they had married. House had accused him of moving too fast; '_After all_,' he had said, '_look how your other marriages turned out and you did a similar thing in both of them_.'

Dating Julie had been good for Wilson, but the marriage probably hadn't been the greatest idea. James had still been worrying about House even though it had been nearly four years since the infarction when he and Julie had started seeing each other.

It seemed to House that Wilson would date people only to keep himself occupied. It wasn't that he hadn't loved his wives it was more that he wasn't _in_ love with them. There was a difference between love and being in love and Wilson just didn't seem to know the difference.

"Greg."

Wilson's voice broke through House's thoughts.

"Greg, are you okay?" Wilson asked. He had noticed House looking dazed and he wasn't too sure why.

"Yeah," House answered. He looked at Wilson who had retrieved his food from the microwave and was eating it. "I hope you didn't put the Styrofoam in the microwave because it isn't good for you."

"No, I used a plate." He paused, realizing that House had said yet another thing about his health. "What is with you?" Wilson demanded. "You've been acting like a parent. You're taking care of me and telling me to drink milk instead of soda. I'm an adult; I know how to take care of myself! You're not that much older than I am; only six years or so."

House snorted. "You're getting a dose of your own medicine. You always act like that."

Wilson glowered. "I'm not as bossy as you are though. You cluck like a mother hen. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were worried about me."

"I am worried," House snapped. "I'm worried you're going to crash again and kill yourself over Julie."

"Well, at least you care," Wilson muttered and took a bite of his food "Yuck, it's cold."

"It sat in there for a while," House pointed out, waking back to the living room so that he could rest. "Pop it back in the microwave," he called and collapsed on the couch, mentally exhausted and physically drained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Vicodin; shaking one into his hand, he tossed it in his mouth to ease the pain in his leg, not really caring that it was an hour until he was supposed to take another one.

* * *

Wilson, deciding he wasn't as hungry as he had thought he was, pushed the full plate of food away from him and got up from the table. '_I'll clean it up later_,' he told himself.

His wrist was hurting a little, as was the rest of his body, so he took an Advil before leaving the kitchen and heading to his room while thoroughly ignoring House who was watching more cartoons. Once in his room, he pulled out some clothes to sleep in and put them on, figuring he could just shower in the morning since he'd taken a shower only a few hours before.

It was harder to change into his clothes without of the use of his left hand, and he managed to whack himself in the face a few times. Cursing himself for crashing his car and breaking his wrist, Wilson stalked back out to the living room and sat down on a chair. "There has to be something on worth watching," Wilson said after a few minutes of sitting angrily in the chair.

House looked up at Wilson and cocked an eyebrow. "You're friendly."

"Shut up," Wilson snapped, crunching himself into his chair looking quite irritated.

House bit his tongue from saying something sarcastic and instead asked, "What's wrong?"

Wilson ran a hand through his hair and looked at House sheepishly. "I am such an idiot."

'_I could have told you that_,' House nearly said but stopped just before the words came out. "About the car?"

"Not just about the car," Wilson admitted, "but about Julie too. Hell, I'm an idiot in all of my marriages. Like I've said before, the only thing I've got going for me is my job and our screwed up friendship." He looked at House again, this time his eyes weren't full of self pity and tears: they were full of exhaustion and regret. "Damn it, I don't want to go through this again."

House didn't know what to say to Wilson, he didn't even know how to respond. All he could say was, "I'm sorry."

Wilson chuckled. "Thanks." He sighed. "You want a drink?"

"Should you be drinking?" House asked feeling concerned. Wilson didn't seem stable enough to handle a nonalcoholic beer let alone scotch or any other kind of hard alcohol.

"Shit, Greg, what is with you today?" Wilson sounded on the verge of hysterics and House was beginning to worry about his friend. "What happened to the ass hole you normally are?"

House would have taken more offense at Wilson's words if his friend hadn't been on the verge of screaming. "I'm worried."

"About me?" Wilson gave a harsh laugh. "That's something new. You never seemed to care before. I invite myself to do things with you."

House winced slightly at Wilson's words. It reminded him about what Stacy had told him about how he was the one for her but he didn't give her the time, whereas Mark made room for her. Wilson's words were true and so were Stacy's. He wasn't the greatest friend or the easiest person to get along with, and it was true that he wasn't always there when he was needed, but it wasn't true that he didn't care.

Wilson saw the wince just as he saw the look of hurt that crossed House's face. "Oh, I'm sorry, Greg, I didn't mean…"

"Yeah," House said with a small sigh, "you did; and you're right."

Wilson smiled slightly and put his legs down from the chair.

House looked over at Wilson. "I'm a shitty friend, I'm sorry."

"Are you high?" Wilson asked skeptically. "Are you on something I don't know about?"

"Yeah, Foreman got it for me on the streets," House replied sarcastically. "It's the real deal, not this watered down stuff we get at the hospital."

Wilson snickered a little. "So you're drunk?" He looked over at his liquor cabinet which was still locked up. "Bring your own?"

House stuck his tongue out but quickly sobered. "I meant it," he said, meaning that he wasn't the greatest friend, not that Foreman bought him drugs or that he was drunk.

"I know," Wilson replied and looked at the TV. He watched House out of the corner of his eyes and smiled a little. Greg almost never admitted that he cared about people so for him to apologize made Wilson feel pretty good.

"So how'd your break your wrist?" House asked with a look of forced interest.

"I told you already," Wilson replied, rolling his eyes. "What are you really asking?" He knew there was some hidden meaning to the question.

"Why'd you crash your car into a wall?" House asked, leaning forward slightly. He was worried about James and hoped that it really had been an accident and not something caused by despair.

"It was an accident," Wilson answered with a small shrug. He saw the hesitation in House's eyes. "Oh, come on, you can't think I meant to do it. I didn't even feel it."

House's eyebrows shot up. "So you crashed your car, saw the damage, felt the pain in your wrist, and called the cops? For some reason I don't believe that."

Wilson frowned. "I don't remember. I woke up in an ambulance with paramedics."

"They didn't give you an MRI?" House asked, growing quite concerned.

"I was fine," Wilson said a little irritably. "I was responsive when I woke up and I could answer all of their questions." After a sigh he said, "I'm fine. I broke my wrist but I'm fine."

"Tell that to your car," House grumbled but let the subject drop. He wasn't going to argue with Wilson too much. He could bring it up in a day or two and in the meantime he would just watch to make sure Wilson didn't drop dead or anything. If James thought he was all right then House wasn't going to get after him too much. Divorce had to be messing with his friend's mind and it wouldn't do any good to badger Wilson when he just wanted to be let alone for a little while.

House looked over at Wilson who had his eyes closed and seemed to be trying to sleep. Sleep sounded good to House, so he grabbed one of the blankets that Wilson always had draped over the chairs and tried to sleep.

* * *

Wilson woke with a jolt and looked around him. He felt slightly disoriented, but that wasn't anything new, he often felt out of it when he first woke.

"_Look out, Batman!"_

The sound of Robin's voice on _Cartoon Network_ brought him back to reality and everything rushed back at him. He remembered the fight with Julie, House trying to make him feel a little better, waking up in an ambulance, looking at the X-Ray of his wrist and seeing that it was broken, going to work after he had taken a nap, House calling him an idiot, Julie yelling at him for crashing the car, Cuddy telling him he could miss work that day if he really needed to, House taking him home, House staying over with him, and finally, he noticed House sleeping in the chair next to the couch.

He looked at the TV which had cut to a commercial for _Gatorade _and rolled his eyes. He swore that House did things like watch cartoons just to annoy him. Sighing, he looked over at Greg and smiled a little. It had been really nice of House to stay over with him even if all House did was taunt him. When Wilson really thought about it, the only way Greg really knew how to help people was to piss them off or taunt them. Sure James had seen the nicer side of House but it was rare for House to let on that he was concerned.

'_He's worried you're hurt,' _he reminded himself. _'Greg didn't hide that he was concerned too much. He wanted you to know he was upset; he wanted you to realize you might be hurt so that you don't do anything stupid.'_

"Go to sleep," House snapped, his voice breaking in to Wilson's thoughts. "It's too early to be awake."

Wilson looked at the clock. "It's six in the morning."

"I go to work at ten," House grumbled.

Wilson smirked. "I go in at nine."

"Yeah? Call a cab. I'm not going any earlier than I have to."

"You said you'd drive me," Wilson reminded him. "That includes going to work in the morning."

House glared at Wilson but his eyebrows soon knit together in a concerned look. "Shouldn't you stay here? You…"

"I'm fine. I don't need to stay here and have nothing to do," Wilson replied. "I'll call Cuddy at eight to tell her I'll be late. She won't care."

"I think she likes you," House taunted.

"More than you perhaps," Wilson said with a grin.

"Nah, she loves me; she just doesn't show it. You know; doesn't want the nurses to have too much to gossip about. It's why we…"

Wilson was laughing and shaking his head. "Just stop, I don't want to hear anymore. I'll get some weird picture in my head and then you'll just build up on it. I don't even want to know your strange urges involving Cuddy."

"Touché," House said with mock approval. His face took on a sudden thoughtful look. "You would get a disturbing picture of me and Cuddy in your head."

Wilson sputtered. "Only because you put it there."

House rolled his eyes. "You're still the one who would picture it."

"You need help," Wilson said, shaking his head.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," House snapped.

"You know people consider you to be insensitive and sarcastic," Wilson said with a grin.

"I'm not sarcastic, I just point out the obvious," House replied dryly.

Wilson shook his head and smiled at House.

House smiled back.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Ivory Novelist: **I'm happy you thought the last chapter was fluffy but this was the fluffy chapter I was thinking of. I hope you like this one because this is my favorite of the seven I have written so far. (Yeah, I'm a little ahead) I love House/Wilson friendship too. It is my favorite thing to read and there is so _little_ of it out there! Everyone focuses on House/Cameron, which isn't a bad thing, but I MUCH prefer to read House/Wilson fics. Thanks for being nice to me, it was sweet. I'm always depressed (it just depends on how bad the day was). Clinical depression sucks and now school is about to start so…you know. Well, thanks for you review in the last chapter; it meant a lot to me. I hope you like this one too! Oh, one more thing, please update your House fic "Cotton Candy Baby" when you have time. It's really good!

**Forgottengargoyle: **Thanks for the praise! I am so happy you think I've got the personality down. I'm really trying and every time I see the show I try to see if he'd say some of the things I've written. I think so. I think you'll like seeing House comforting Wilson. It probably won't be a physical injury (for the most part) but I'm not saying anymore:zips lips shut: You'll just have to read to find out what happens. Don't worry; I will definitely continue writing House fics so I might take you up on your idea. I loved the review and I especially enjoyed learning I am on author alert!

P.S. I like the chapter titles too!

**Jennamajig: **I thought that a House comforting Wilson as well as he could fic would be a good idea and I'm happy you think so. I totally agree that the characters are complex and that Wilson is just as complex as House. It seems that there is a lot going on in his life and he's got to have a back story so I think he's interesting to write about. Wilson has his own problems just like House does. Thanks for reading and reviewing, I love hearing what people think.

**Please read and review everyone!**


	6. Again

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **This chapter is pretty much pointless and I'm sorry about that. The only really important part is the end and that sets up the next chapter. I know I said I wouldn't update for a while but I really wanted to get this chapter out before I leave tomorrow. I hope you guys like it, please review! Responses at the end.

**Chapter 6: Again**

_Everybody's got their problems  
Everybody says the same thing to you  
It's just a matter how you solve them  
And knowing how to change the things you've been through  
I fear I've come to realize  
How fast life can be compromised  
Stand back to see what's going on  
I can't believe this happened to you,  
this happened to you_

_-Sum 41_

"You probably should stay home," House said, concern in his voice. He was noticing how tired James looked and for once really thought it was best if he expressed how worried he was.

"I know how to look after myself," Wilson replied coolly. He was growing quite annoyed with House. He decided that if he had to deal much more with House telling him what to do, he might scream. "You don't need to look out for me, I'll be fine." He sighed, deciding against the screaming. "You want some coffee?"

"No, I'll wait until we get to the hospital and just drink some of what Cameron makes," House replied. "Her coffee is good."

"Okay," Wilson replied, pushing himself in to a sitting position. He groaned when he sat up. "Remind me not to fall asleep in such a weird position again. I hurt in places I swear I never learned about in med school."

"Forgetting what you learned already?" House asked in a mock serious tone. "Maybe Cuddy should be alerted that you aren't fit to be the head of oncology."

Wilson snorted. He was happy that the concern House had shown before wasn't too evident and his friend was just being himself. It made him feel good to know Greg cared, but he did want to know that the normal House was still inside somewhere. "I think she'd question why you thought that. It seems to me that she'd pull you from diagnostics before she would pull me from oncology."

"I doubt it," House scoffed. "She loves me."

"She loves to hate you," Wilson muttered.

House laughed. "Hate is such a strong word."

Wilson cracked a smile and got to his feet. "I'm going to take a shower. If you need something, then, you know, just get it. And if you want to do me a favor you can clean the kitchen up."

House raised an eyebrow. "Clean the kitchen up? I got take out. What did you do; throw food at the walls in your rage?"

Wilson's eyes narrowed. "No, I just left some of the food out. Throw it away if you want; I don't care." He walked off to his bedroom for some clothes before returning to the living room. "I should probably put a bag or something over my wrist, huh?" he asked when he walked back in.

"That might be a good idea," House replied. "It'd be a little hypocritical for a doctor to ruin his cast when he knows how to take care of one."

Wilson smirked and went in to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag for his arm. When he walked back in to the living room he said, "I've got some more of your clothes in my bedroom if you're interested in a shower."

"Is there a shrine to me in there or something?" House teased. "Because if there is, I really don't mind…as creepy as it might be."

Wilson rolled his eyes, not bothering to dignify House's statement with a response, and then jogged up the stairs with his clothes to the upstairs bathroom. He didn't know why he wasn't using the bathroom that his bedroom was connected to, but he wanted to be alone. The second floor of his house had a guest bedroom, a bathroom, and what was supposed to be an office but was really just an overly large closet. He passed the two rooms and went in to the bathroom to take his shower.

He undressed quickly and turned the water on warm before getting in, just remembering to put the plastic bag on his arm. He didn't even think about jerking off – he just wasn't in the mood and his left wrist was broken with a plastic bag over it to boot.

He thought about his current situation and sighed. The divorce was really hurting him and he didn't want to deal with it again. He figured Julie would probably want some money but he wasn't sure since her boyfriend was in real estate and they made a pretty good amount of money. Besides, Julie had a pretty good job of her own and could support herself if she had to.

He was renting his house but knew that Julie wouldn't kick him out since she was living with her new boyfriend. The note she had left told him that she would be in contact and the lawyer would handle the paperwork.

He sighed and poured shampoo on his head before scrubbing in an angry way with his right hand. He hated having a broken wrist and it was only the second day!

Back to the divorce is where his mind took him. Back to Julie. He loved her, he knew that much. Or was it the idea of her? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he was upset that she had left him and didn't want to be alone.

He didn't like to be alone.

'_That's my problem,_' he thought, '_I can't stand being alone. If I didn't mind it, I wouldn't be in this mess._' He sighed. '_I messed up again. Why did I mess up again?_

* * *

House cleaned up the kitchen for Wilson once he decided that there was nothing else to do in the house. There were no good cartoons on and he figured he might as well clean up. He never cleaned his own house up if he could help it, but then again, he had a cleaning lady and James didn't. His thoughts turned to work and the fact that he would probably be driving Wilson around for a while. That didn't bother him too much, but he would probably suggest that James just get a new car; or at the very least a bus schedule. 

He sighed and his thoughts turned to Wilson's divorce. He knew Wilson had been upstairs in the shower for the past forty minutes but House wasn't too worried. If Wilson wanted to mull over his shitty marriage and try to figure things out for himself, House wasn't going to bug him too much. James needed alone time; he always did when it came to divorce and his current wife.

House sighed and finished wiping down the counter for Wilson before he limped to James's bedroom and to change his clothes. He'd just taken a shower the night before and didn't feel like taking another one so soon. He wasn't dirty, so he didn't see any reason to get cleaned off.

When he walked in to the bedroom, he pulled out some of his clothes from the pile Wilson had sitting on a stool. He didn't ponder why his clothes were in Wilson's room or why there were so many. House had plenty of Wilson's clothes at his place so it seemed natural that James would have some at his.

After he'd changed, he walked back to the living room and flicked the TV on. He glanced at the clock and shook his head when he saw that it was seven thirty. James had been in the shower for over an hour. Even though he didn't want to admit it, House was worried that James might have done something stupid like slipped, or, if James was really depressed, hurt himself intentionally. Muttering a curse, he got up and limped over to the stairs.

"Wilson!" he called up the stairs. When he got no response he sighed and yelled, "James!"

"What?" was the reply from the bathroom. "Can't I take a shower and get dressed in peace?"

House heard the curt tone but needed to clarify that Wilson was all right. "You've been in the bathroom for a long time."

"Stop acting like my mother," Wilson snapped as he walked out of the bathroom. When he rounded the corner and started walking down the stairs he said, "Look, I'm fine. Stop acting like a stranger and act like the bad-tempered asshole you really are."

House's eyebrows shot up. Wilson rarely spoke to him like that – even when he was furious. "I cleaned your kitchen up."

"How sweet," Wilson snipped. He wasn't sure why his mood had changed so quickly, he only knew he wasn't in the mood for House to treat him like glass.

House wanted to yell at Wilson, House wanted to shake Wilson and tell him he was being an asshole, but he simply bowed his head and walked over to the couch. "Tell me when you're ready and we'll go to work."

Wilson sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. "I'm sorry. I…I just don't want to be alone."

House looked over at Wilson with surprise. He was itching to ask, '_Who are you and what have you done with James Wilson?_' but he managed to keep it to himself and say in a caring way, "You're not alone."

"I _am_ alone," Wilson replied, cutting off any other protest House may have made. "I don't have anything to keep me occupied when I'm not working. I told you all I have is work and our friendship, but I don't know how to handle those things anymore. I'll always be fine at work, that is a whole other world and faking happy isn't that hard. But you…" he shook his head and took a deep breath. "You won't leave me the fuck alone. I've gone through this before; I don't need you to suddenly turn in to Dr. Cameron and start treating me like I'm going to break if I fall down."

House stared at Wilson and noticed how worn out his body looked. House noticed the frustration and the anger in the way Wilson set his lips. He could see the guilt and the sadness in Wilson's eyes. But what House noticed most of all, was the pure honesty with which James spoke the words. House gathered the words he wanted to say, the words that would turn Wilson in to the person he used to be. The words that would make the suffering oncologist in to the witty friend House knew and loved. The words that came out of his mouth, however, weren't even close to what he was feeling inside:

"You're depressed."

A whisper. That's all the words were. They were a whisper, something House said with realization and sadness.

Wilson laughed in a poignant way. "I'll be fine." He looked over at the clock. "Let's go to work."

"Don't skirt," House snapped.

Wilson shot him an awful look. "For once in your life can you treat me like you treat everyone else in the world?"

"I do treat you like I treat everyone else," House muttered.

"At work? Only when you're pissed and even then you don't direct it at me. You might bitch and moan but you never really aim something at me like you do Cuddy. Sure, I'll get crap like everyone else but you still take a little interest in my life," Wilson said bitterly.

"I take an interest in everyone's life," House replied. "Now stop skirting. You know you're depressed and you're skirting it."

"If I'm depressed, what are you? You're the _definition_ of bitterness, and I'm depressed?" Wilson asked, close to hysterics.

"I can be bitter and not be depressed," House said angrily. "I'm fine. You're the one who just admitted that you pretend to be happy."

Wilson shook his head and glared at House. "I don't want to deal with this right now. We're not touchy feely. Hell, we're guys, we're not _supposed_ to be touchy feely."

"That doesn't mean I'm not worried about you!" House yelled. House's eyes widened when he heard what he'd just said. He looked at the floor really quickly, his hand tightening on his cane until his knuckles were white, and silently cursing himself for saying something that would probably hurt him in the long run. He'd just done what he'd tried to avoid doing since Stacy had left: he let his feelings be known.

Wilson looked at House with a shocked but appreciative look on his face. Rather than make a comment about what House had just said, Wilson reached over and patted Greg's shoulder. The gesture was all that was needed between the two friends. For Wilson to acknowledge House's admission of feelings with words would have been too much, but the simple pat said everything.

"Are you ready to go to the hospital?" House asked, taking a breath and looking at Wilson with a small smile.

"Isn't it a little early?" Wilson teased lightly. He and Greg could talk about depression later, right now was the time to cover up the emotion and try to lighten the mood.

"I thought you had to be in at nine," House replied. "Shouldn't we leave now?"

Wilson snickered. "Your wish is my command."

"Well, technically it's mine since you don't have a car to drive," House retorted, a small smile on his face as he thanked Wilson silently for not delving in to the emotion right away.

"Nit picker," Wilson said with mock annoyance.

House grinned. "It comes with the job description."

It was Wilson's turn to crack a smile. "I guess that's true." He sighed. "All right, let's get to the hospital."

"I wonder if Chase is healthy…" House said thoughtfully as they got up and walked towards the front door.

"Why? Are you going to force him to do your clinic hours?" Wilson asked with a small grin still on his face.

House smirked. "Too soon?"

"You are incorrigible," Wilson informed him with a laugh.

"He's a nark, he deserves to be tortured," House answered darkly. "That's what people do when they find a spy among them, isn't it?"

Wilson laughed and took his keys from House so that he could lock the door. "You're a drama queen."

"Am not," House protested, knowing very well that he sounded like a small child.

"I am not even going to get into _that_ with you," Wilson told him and walked over to the Corvette.

House unlocked the doors to the car and eased himself in, making sure to hit Wilson with his cane as he got settled. "It was an accident, I swear," he said when Wilson glowered at him.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Very funny, you smartass."

House chuckled and started the car.

* * *

When the two arrived at work, they were relaxed and carrying on their normal banter. No one looked twice at them as they walked in to the elevator and pushed the button for House's floor. 

"Don't you have patients?" House asked Wilson as they walked towards diagnostics.

"No," Wilson replied. "I have paperwork and some things to look over. You know, doing what the head of a department is supposed to do."

"Good thing I don't have to do that," House said loftily.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "You do, actually, but I think Foreman covers some of it and I know Cuddy ignores most of what you do."

"It doesn't seem like it," House grumbled.

Wilson laughed. "If I tried doing some of the things you get away with she would kill me."

"No," House said with his usual bite of sarcasm, "she would send you home thinking you were really sick or direct you to the psych ward thinking you have some weird disorder. Personally, I vote for psych."

"Thanks ever so," Wilson said dryly as they rounded the corner and walked in to House's office.

"Hey, don't get upset, I'm just trying to help," House said with a smirk.

"Please, don't help," Wilson teased.

"Yeah, it's a scary thing," Cuddy said, walking in to House's office. She looked at Wilson. "How's the wrist?"

"Uh…fine," Wilson replied.

"I sent for the chart from Princeton General and I want an X-Ray of my own to make sure you really are fine," Cuddy informed him.

House raised an eyebrow. "Are you his mother?"

"Are you his keeper?" Cuddy shot back. To Wilson she said, "I just want to make sure you're fine. You weren't looking too good yesterday and those scrapes on your face look infected."

"Bruised," Wilson corrected her.

Cuddy shrugged. "They're still red."

House had an evil grin on his face. "Losing your touch?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Go to the clinic. I've set aside the most boring cases for you. I know you love special treatment."

House grumbled but doubled back to the elevator to head to the clinic.

Cuddy looked surprised that her orders were followed and turned to Wilson for an explanation. "That was way too easy."

"He's been weird," Wilson replied.

"Maybe having Stacy around isn't the best idea," Cuddy said thoughtfully. "He's probably feeling a little depressed."

Wilson froze. '_You idiot!_' he thought. '_You stupid, stupid, idiot!_' He had forgotten all about Stacy with all of his own problems. He had forgotten to ask Greg what Stacy had told him to make him upset. '_Idiot!_' he screamed at himself.

Cuddy didn't seem to notice his panic because she said, "Come on, I want to get those X-Rays."

Wilson nodded and followed her dutifully; feeling like a child who had just been told his dog had been hit by a car because he had left the gate open.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Br1de-of-fr3ddy: **You love it? Really? That makes me feel really good. Thank you so much for your wonderful praise! I love hearing such wonderful things and reviews just make my day. Thank you for reviewing I really hope I hear from you again!

**Xantichoicex: **HA! It's a little ironic that you picked my fic out of all of the ones out there. Heehee. Weird. Thanks for adding me to your author alert; that was really nice. I hope you continue to enjoy and review this fic. I loved yours! And yes, the buttons are pretty neat.

**Flamesofthemo0n: **LOL! I figured you meant mo0n and not mo0m but then again, people have some REALLY strange names on this site so I figured mo0m was some sort of joke you had with your friends. I thank you for your vote of confidence and I hope you don't take it back when you read this chapter since it was pretty fluffy. Oh well…Please review again!

**Jennamajig: **I thought adding some sort of back-story for Wilson's marriages had to be in the fic since we don't really know ANYTHING about them. I am sure by the second season this will all be total crap but who cares? It works now. Thank you so much for being such a great reviewer, I hope you like this chapter too!


	7. Friends and Lovers

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N:** Ifigured you guys would like to have another chapter now. I finally got computer access! YAY! Oh well, I hope you guys like this fic. I think the song goes good for House and Stacy but I'm a huge _Beatles_ fan and I will find any excuse to put their lyrics in a fic. :Grin: Enjoy and please review!

**Chapter 7: Friends and Lovers**

_There are places I remember  
All my life, though some have changed  
Some forever, not for better  
Some have gone and some remain _

All these places have their moments  
With lovers and friends I still can recall  
Some are dead and some are living  
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers  
There is no one who compares with you  
And these memories lose their meaning  
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection  
For people and things that went before  
I know I'll often stop and think about them  
In my life I love you more

_-The Beatles_

House walked in to the clinic and grabbed the chart that Cuddy had set aside for him. "Michelle Hunter," he called and limped in to Exam Room 3 as a woman in her mid thirties, and what looked to be her husband, followed him.

"I have a really sore throat," she told House when they were inside the room. "Joshua had strep a few weeks ago," she indicated her husband, "and I was wondering if I had that."

"Do you want to have strep?" House asked. It seemed to him that most patients hoped that they were sick since they always came in for such stupid things; like that woman with fatigue.

"No!" Michelle said, looking completely shocked.

"Why would she want to be miserable?" Joshua demanded.

"We've got a three year old and I don't want her to get sick," Michelle said quickly and rested her hand on her husband's arm to calm him down.

"Kids." House nodded in what was supposed to be a concerned way but only managed to look mocking. "Open your mouth."

"Okay," Michelle said and opened her mouth.

House looked down her throat. "It's red," he said and sat down in a chair so that he could scribble in her chart. After a few moments, he used his cane to help him get up. "A nurse will be in for a throat culture," he informed her and headed for the door.

"_You're_ a doctor," Michelle said with a look of confusion on her face. "Shouldn't _you_ do it?"

"Nah, nurses are trained for this sort of thing. Besides, if it is strep you'll have to take that shirt off and then we'd have to touch; and things would be exposed." He saw the horrible look on her husband's face and smirked. "Yeah, didn't think you'd like that."

"Only if it was for medical reasons," she answered slowly while her husband looked rather angry.

House smirked again. "Your nurse will be here in a minute." He walked out of the room.

* * *

Wilson examined the X-Rays with Cuddy.

"It's a Colle's Fracture," Cuddy announced.

Wilson sighed. "People are going to think I'm old if they hear that."

Cuddy smiled a little. "Your bones are fine. We'll have you out of the cast in seven or eight weeks."

"Just what I wanted," Wilson muttered sarcastically.

"It's not fun, I know, but you'll be fine. Good thing you're not a surgeon." She wanted to cheer him up. James Wilson was her friend and she knew he was feeling a little blue.

Her attempt worked because Wilson smiled. "That's a good thing." He got up from the chair he had been sitting on. "I've got a patient in ten minutes."

"I'd better head to the clinic and see if House has done his job," Cuddy muttered to him.

"Good luck!" Wilson called as he turned the corner and headed to the elevator. He had to meet with Leo, the leukemia patient, and his family again that day. It wasn't something he was looking forward to since he didn't have anything new to tell them. Their son was in the same condition he'd been in just a few days before, but a check up would have been done by the nurses and Wilson was expected to go over it with the patient.

When the elevator pinged and Wilson got off, he headed to his office to retrieve his lab coat and Leo's file, which he knew his nurses would have put on his desk. As he shrugged in to the coat, he reviewed the chart and then headed off to Leo's room.

"Good morning," he greeted Leo and his parents, closing the door behind him. "How are you feeling today?"

"I…" Leo began but his mother started to speak at the same time.

"He was feeling weak this morning," she said. "What's causing that?"

Wilson tried to suppress a sigh when Mrs. Herkmin cut in. Parents always tried to speak for their children but he would much rather hear what Leo had to say since _he_ was the cancer patient – not his mother. "He's been on chemotherapy for the last…"

"We _know_ that!" Mr. Herkmin said furiously, surprising Wilson with his outburst.

"Dad," Leo said irritably, "shut up! Let Dr. Wilson speak, he knows what he's talking about. I'm the one getting the treatment, not you and I want to know what is going on since it concerns my life!"

Wilson bit his lip and thought, '_Oh boy, this is not going to be a fun day_.' When patients and their families got hysterical it was always a horrible scene and to see Leo yelling at his dad didn't make him feel good. The kid was really sick but the chemo was helping. If the father insisted on being a jerk then Wilson really just wanted to go home and let them hash things out alone.

"Dr. Wilson?" Leo asked uncertainly, snapping Wilson out of his thoughts. "How much longer until I'm off chemo? I've been getting treatment for five months now and I'm swollen, my hair's all gone, and I feel nauseous a lot."

Wilson looked at the teen sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I know that the reaction your body has to chemotherapy is horrible but it does seem to be helping. We got the labs back and your platelets and blood count is higher. Hopefully in three months or so we can start weaning the treatment."

"What if it doesn't work?" Mrs. Herkmin asked, tears evident in her eyes.

"We should really consider_ that_, if it happens. It shouldn't, he's doing really well," Wilson answered, trying not to stomp out the optimism that Leo had been showing in the last few weeks.

"But what if?" she pressed.

"Then we'll have to look for a donor," Wilson replied. "For platelets or even bone marrow."

"What about stem cells?" Mr. Herkmin asked suddenly. "I read that stem cells can be used now."

"They can," Wilson replied. "Stem cells are amazing and scientists are discovering great things with them."

"Could they help Leo?" Mrs. Herkmin asked, tears still shining in her eyes.

"If we can find a match," Wilson replied, his voice a little sad. He knew how rare matches for patients and stem cells were.

"It's too bad that the government doesn't give scientists the freedom they need to work with the stem cells," Mr. Herkmin muttered angrily. "The research could help cancer!"

Wilson smiled at him. He felt sorry for the man and knew his earlier outburst had just been because he was scared. "The research could help everyone," Wilson replied.

Mrs. Herkmin smiled at Wilson. "Do you really think the chemo is helping?"

"Yes," Wilson reassured. "It is. Try not to think about stem cell, bone marrow, or platelet donors unless we need to."

"Thank you," Leo said, his voice nothing more than a whisper. He was looking at his parents with a sad look in his eyes. "Thank you for reassuring them."

"No problem," Wilson replied with a small smile. He picked up the chart from where he had put it and said, "A nurse should be in with you in a moment for some blood."

Leo nodded. He had gotten used to having his blood drawn every few days on his visits to the hospital.

"Have a nice day," Wilson said as he turned from the room.

"Doctor," Leo said, his voice curious.

Wilson turned with an expectant look on his face. "Something wrong?"

"No, I was just curious…did you break your arm?" Leo was smiling and his parents were looking slightly embarrassed.

"Leo!" his mother scolded.

Wilson gave her a funny look. He didn't think that breaking his arm was something personal. "Yeah, I crashed my car." Leo grinned a little and Wilson smiled at him. "Have a good day," he said again and walked out of the room.

* * *

"Greg," a woman said softly when House walked out of another exam room.

House stiffened slightly and turned around. "Stacy."

"How are you? You looked a little tired the other day," she said slowly, not wanting to address the real reason she had come over to him.

"Lover boy's fine," House said heatedly, ignoring what she said about his health. "How're the hospital cases?" He wanted her to go away. Sure, he had been in love with her at one time but he wanted her to go away so that he could think about other things! What she had said the other day had really hurt and seeing her around just made things so much worse.

Stacy shrugged; ignoring the barb about her husband since she had come to ask Greg how Mark was and she'd gotten her answer. She knew that Greg was angry about having her there, and having Mark there seemed to be the icing on the cake. "I saw that you violated a DNR a few months back, that's not a good move," she told him, trying to get him in to a more joking mood.

"Well, I got off, didn't I?" he snapped at her, heading over to the counter and grabbing a file. "Julian Linton," he called.

A tan man with light brown eyes got up and walked over to House. "I'm Julian."

"If you want to hear about your man, ask one of my followers," House shot over his shoulder at Stacy as he led the patient to the exam room. He saw her shake her head but he didn't care, he just wanted her gone. She had been around too long for his liking and he still didn't know when she would be leaving. She had walked out of his life six years before and now he was wishing she'd stayed gone. "Exam Room 2," House muttered to Julian.

"My legs have been itching really badly," Julian said when he and House entered the exam room. "They've got rashes on them too. I don't know what's causing it."

"Do you shave your legs?" House asked, lowering himself into a chair as he opened the file.

"Yeah," Julian replied quietly, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I'm a swimmer. My coach says that it'll help me move faster in the water."

"Uh huh." House looked rather skeptical. "Did you ever think that maybe you're allergic to the shaving cream?"

"I'm not stupid; I know that you can have an allergic reaction to all sorts of things. I don't use shaving cream. I just use soap and water. I'm not allergic to the soap; I use it on the rest of my body," Julian told him.

"You don't say?" House said, wishing he had called a different patient because he didn't want to deal with some weirdo who shaved his legs and wanted to talk about personal habits. "Well," he said, his voice resigned, "let's see your legs."

Julian nodded and pulled the leg of his jeans up. "See?"

House, deciding he wanted to torture the poor guy, said, "Take the jeans off; I want to see the entire rash."

Julian winced slightly but pulled off his jeans so that he was standing in his boxers. "See, it goes up past my knee." Seeing House's look he said, "No way am I taking those off."

House snickered a little. "Well, I'm not sure so just sit there and I'll call a consult." He paged Cuddy after Julian nodded.

"What?" Cuddy demanded when she walked in to the room. "I was going over some of the files from this morning." She looked at Julian and an '_Oh, dear God, what now?_' look came over her face.

"So sorry to bother you but I just wanted your expert opinion on what might be causing this poor kid's rash," House said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Cuddy rolled her eyes and looked at the kid's legs. "Allergic reaction. Looks like a Poison Oak allergy."

House slapped his face as though he was embarrassed. "Poison Oak, how could I have missed that one?"

Cuddy glared at him but turned to look at Julian. "Pull your pants up and I'd suggest buying some Calamine lotion." She walked out of the room rolling her eyes. "Don't you leave the clinic, House, you owe me three more hours!" she called as she walked out of the room, a small smile on her face when she heard him moan.

"Could I go?" Julian asked stupidly and looking very embarrassed.

"Yeah," House replied. "Get some Calamine otherwise you're going to have a nasty itch for a long time. Of course, it's stupid to go trekking through Poison Oak and forget to mention it."

Julian looked scared rather than angry. "Sorry I wasted your time," he murmured and quickly left the room.

House laughed when Julian left and left the room.

"Was that really necessary?" Cuddy asked when House walked from the exam room and dropped off the chart.

"I thought you'd like seeing a kid drop his pants." House grinned wickedly at her and took pleasure when she rolled her eyes. He had enjoyed the look on her face when she had walked in to the room.

"Just do your job," Cuddy snapped and stalked off to her office.

House smiled and called his next patient.

* * *

Wilson wandered down to the clinic in search of House. After hearing what Cuddy had said about House and Stacy, he wanted to check up on his friend but not seem like he was checking up. He didn't know how he would start the conversation but he figured it would start eventually.

"James!"

'_Well, speak of the devil_,' Wilson thought. "Hi, Stacy."

"How's your arm?" she asked, indicating the cast.

"Fine," he replied, forcing a smile and wishing she would leave. "It should be healed in seven, maybe eight weeks."

"How did you manage to crash? You were always such a safe driver." She looked at him intently, a small smile on her face.

Wilson wanted to tell her to go away but he and Stacy had been friends before and he didn't dislike her. "It was really late and I guess I just lost my focus," he said lamely.

Stacy nodded but didn't look like she believed him. "Well, okay, I'll talk to you later, James."

"Yeah," he answered and walked in to the clinic to find House. He knew she had wanted to say more but he had brushed her off and she had always been good at noticing when people wanted her to go away.

* * *

Wilson found House hiding out in Exam Room 1 with his feet propped up and reading a magazine. "I'm impressed."

House looked up from his magazine and grinned. "I saw the patients whose charts she put aside. Cuddy said I had to see them but she didn't mention any other patients."

"So you figure you're home free for the next few hours if you pretend to be treating someone?" Wilson asked. He was always amused by House's ideas; the sad part, was that they normally worked.

"Well, no, I am waiting for Cameron to page me. There's this man with some weird growth. I was actually going to call you for a consult. Looks like cancer but I think it's just a benign growth, you know how my team is when it comes to getting things right," House said, a smirk on his face.

"Send a biopsy to the pathologist," Wilson answered lightly.

"Wonder Boy doesn't want to do it for me? I'm hurt," House said with false sadness.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "I saw Stacy haunting the outside of the clinic. She waiting for you?"

House's ears pricked up at the sound of Stacy's name. "I spoke to her earlier about…Mike?"

"Mark," Wilson answered with another eye roll. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing much," House answered.

"How do you feel about her working in the hospital?" Wilson asked, trying to make the question sound innocent but knowing he sounded concerned and inquisitive.

House raised and eyebrow. "Concerned for me? I'm touched, Jimmy."

"You're touched in the head!" Wilson snapped angrily. "Jimmy," he muttered sarcastically. "I haven't heard you call me Jimmy since I was a med student and you were just out of med school."

House grinned horribly. "You were really annoying that first week."

"Thanks," Wilson replied sarcastically. "How did we become friends again? I honestly should have just ignored you and requested oncology right away. Why did I want to be in diagnostics for those first few months?"

"I think you told us that since diagnostics covers all sorts of disease and oncology only covers cancer, you would rather start in diagnostics and then move on if you thought you liked oncology better," House answered, a terrible smirk on his face now.

"That was over ten years ago!" Wilson cried. "How did you remember that?" When House started to answer Wilson held up a hand. "I don't even want to know."

"I've been looking through your file again." House put on an innocent face when Wilson scowled. "I was just worried and wondering if breaking an appendage is normal for you when you get a divorce."

"Ugh." Wilson sighed a little angrily.

House's pager went off and he looked a little triumphant. "Come on, I want you to meet your newest patient."

"You mean you want Cameron to introduce me to my newest patient," Wilson muttered angrily but nonetheless followed House of the exam room and to the elevator, mentally kicking himself for letting House skirt the subject of Stacy.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Jennamajig: **Thank you for the review I really love them. I like that you noticed Cuddy's protectiveness and I think you'll like her in this chapter too. I figured that House leaving his clothes at Wilson's could mean one of two things. One: that House spends time at Wilson's or Two: that Wilson has taken some of House's clothes when he needed something else to wear when he couldn't go home in his clothes for one reason or another. I'm not too sure where I'm going myself, but I like to write and I enjoy seeing what I am going to write next so I hope you enjoy it. BTW, I loved your House fic!

**Br1de-of-fr3ddy: **:grin: I hope you like this chapter and the bit at the end where House is moving closer to expressing his feelings. Did you notice how he skirts the subject like he accused Wilson of in the previous chapter? Oh well, I hope you like this addition.

**Nikelodean: **I'm glad you're enjoying this fic and I do hope you continue to read. I too love the House/Wilson friendship and I think it's loads of fun to write.

**Rennie: **:Blushes: your compliments made me feel really good. I am so happy that this story had captivated your interest and I really hope you continue to enjoy it. I completely agree with you on the Wilson being hurt bit and there really isn't enough of it out there. Maybe you should write some too:wink wink nudge nudge: I am so happy I made you laugh. I think that a little bit of humor in a semi-dramatic fic is always a good thing. Well I hope you enjoy!

**Evila-elf: **Heehee, I think many people forgot about Stacy. I forgot until I went back and read a transcript and remembered that she was still around. She kinda gets on my nerves…I love House/Wilson friendship but I will read slash. I prefer friendship but there just isn't enough out there for me so sometimes I'll go delve in to the slash world. Anyway, hope you liked this chaper!

**A/N:** A Colle's Fracture refers to a part in the wrist that most people break because their bones are thin. However, it is also the most common break in car crashes and other accidents. When Wilson talks about how people are going to think he is old, he is referring to the fact that most people over the age of seventy end up with this particular break.


	8. Hurting

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **Since fanfiction has a new rule about reviewer responses, I'm afraid I can't thank you all properly. But I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who had reviewed and I hope you'll all forgive me for how long this chapter took. I live in Florida and I know that what happened here cannot even BEGIN to compare to those poor people that live in Louisiana, but Hurricane Katrina took my power for a week and I couldn't write.

This is for everyone hit by Katrina. I hope that none of you suffer anymore than you have to.

Please donate to help these poor people if you have the money. They really have been through so much.

**Chapter 8: Hurting**

_  
Heaven comes to he who waits  
But I know I'm getting nowhere  
And all the deeds of yesterday  
Have really helped to pave my way  
Though there's no one near me now  
How come everyone can touch me  
You see the torture on my brow  
Relates to neither here nor now_

_  
Watch me bleed_

_  
Bleed forever_

_  
Although my face is straight, it lies  
My body feels the Pain and cries  
Here the table is not bare  
I am full but feeling empty  
For all the warmth it feels so cold  
For one so young I feel so old_

_  
Watch me bleed_

_  
Bleed forever_

_  
It's not allowed to be unkind  
But still the hate lives in my mind_

_  
I'll make no noise  
I'll hide my pain  
I'll close my eyes  
I won't complain_

_  
I'll lie right back and take the blame  
And try to tell myself I'm living  
And when it's all been said or done_

_  
Where do I go?_

_  
Where do I run?_

_  
What's left of me or anyone when we've denied the hurting?_

_- Tears for Fears_

Wilson followed House up to the Diagnostics floor where they were met by Cameron.

"We sent a biopsy to the lab," she informed them. "They ought to get back to us soon."

"Is there calcification?" Wilson asked. He didn't mind doing cancer checks for House and his team, but he didn't like to be dragged around the hospital to look at something that House had told him was probably not cancer.

"No…" Cameron said slowly.

House looked at Wilson with his eyebrows raised and Wilson rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't have cancer," Cameron protested, her voice hurt. "It could be another form of cancer, something without a tumor. It could be…"

"I know what it could be," Wilson said and winced inwardly when he heard his furious tone.

Cameron looked as though Wilson had slapped her. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean that you didn't know your job, Dr. Wilson. I only…"

Wilson held up a hand to stop her babbling. He couldn't deal with working at that moment, he needed to go home. "Ask Dr. Robinson to help you with this case, I need to talk to Cuddy." He ran his right hand over his head and walked back to the elevators without looking at House or offering another explanation to Cameron.

"That was interesting," House commented when Wilson had walked off.

"I feel horrible," Cameron whispered, "I didn't mean to upset him."

House stared at her, rolled his eyes, and limped to his office. If Cameron was going to blame herself for a stupid reason he didn't want to be around her.

--------

Wilson walked out of the elevator and towards Cuddy's office. He wanted to go home and knew that he was able to leave. He was considering asking for his vacation days and taking a trip to visit his parents and his brother. His brother had invited him for Chanukah but Wilson hadn't been able to get the time off so he'd asked for a rain check. Perhaps this was the time to take his brother up on it.

"What's up?" Cuddy asked when Wilson walked in. She was going over charts and only briefly looked at him.

"I was wondering if I could take my vacation days soon," he answered. "I understand if you can't…"

"Sure," Cuddy said, running her finger down a chart. "No one else from your department is gone so you can take them whenever you want."

"As soon as possible," Wilson replied.

"Starting today?" Cuddy asked, looking up from the charts. She frowned when she saw how tense Wilson looked.

"I guess," he said slowly. He just wanted to get out of the hospital and go home to his bed. Maybe he'd take House's advice and get a dog or a cat. Hell, even a hamster would be comforting.

"Go," Cuddy said. "You look like you need the time off to rest."

Wilson thanked her quietly and walked from the room. He felt exhausted and frustrated at the same time. Divorce always hurt him no matter what. Sure he had cheated on Julie, but she had cheated on him too.

'_Perhaps marriage just isn't my thing_,' he thought to himself. '_I'll just get a damn dog_.'

Wilson took the elevator up to House's floor and ran into a young man as he was getting out. "Sorry!"

"Dr. Wilson?" It was Chase.

Wilson looked startled. He had been lost in thought and hadn't really been looking where he was going. "I'm sorry, Chase, I guess I'd better look where I'm going." He tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

Chase noticed the troubled look in the older doctor's eyes that had nothing to do with running into him. He also saw the grimace and that made him frown. "Is…is everything all right?" he asked hesitantly.

Wilson frowned. Of all of House's ducklings, he would never have expected this question from Chase. Cameron would have asked him, she was all ready worried about him for heaven's sake! Wilson knew Foreman would have asked the question as well if he had witnessed Wilson's outburst earlier. But Chase? Chase cared about people as much as Cameron but he seemed indifferent. At least, he seemed to ignore it when someone he worked with was having problems until it seemed to be really horrible.

"I'm sorry," Chase said quickly, wrongly interpreting Wilson's frown and hesitation for anger, "I shouldn't have said anything. It's none of my business…" He trailed off when Wilson held up a hand to quiet his babbling.

"It's fine." Wilson turned to walk away but looked back and called Chase's name. "Why did you say something?"

Chase turned and looked like a deer caught in headlights. He sighed and said, "I've noticed you looking hurt and detached but I didn't say anything because you've looked like that before." He heaved another sigh before continuing. It was obvious that he was more than a little uncomfortable. "I noticed you broke your wrist. I know it was a car crash but it seemed a little…odd." Chase stopped and fidgeted. He didn't want to have this discussion with Dr. Wilson. They weren't friends, they were just colleagues. "It's really not my place."

Wilson nodded thinking that Chase wasn't given enough credit when it came to observation. It was obvious that Chase didn't ignore people, he just gave people time, waited them out. Wilson decided he had made the younger man too uncomfortable so he decided to ask a question that would get rid of the awkward moment. "What are you doing here, I thought you were sick."

Chase frowned. "Cuddy sent me home, but I wasn't sick. I had some personal things to work out. I'm supposed to head to Australia in a few months but my dad wants me to go out a little sooner."

Wilson's heart stopped beating for a second and he went pale. "Oh. Did he say why?"

"He just wants us to discuss some things." Chase didn't understand what was wrong with the oncologist. "Is something else wrong, Dr. Wilson?"

Wilson shook his head and tried to smile, this time, he was successful. "I've got to go talk to House."

Chase nodded and watched the older man walk off, an odd feeling in his stomach. Dr. Wilson hadn't been mad at him for saying anything about how he was acting, that had relieved Chase a lot, but he was concerned that the older doctor was on the verge of either killing someone with his passive-aggressiveness or sobbing in the hospital. He hoped it was neither but he was sure about one thing: Dr. Wilson was depressed.

Wilson paced outside of House's office; he seemed to be contemplating on entering and had forgotten the doors were clear glass.

"Wilson!" House bellowed from the doorway. He had an amused and annoyed look on his face as his friend turned confused eyes upon him.

"Huh?" Wilson asked, smiling a little.

"Well?" House demanded.

Wilson was confused. He hadn't heard any question; of course, he had been in his own world. "Well, what?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like a lost puppy.

"Are you done pacing outside of my office? It looks like you're stalking me." House grinned a little.

"I'm going home. I asked Cuddy for my vacation days and she gave them to me," Wilson said, not moving from his spot on the floor.

"I'm not your mother; you didn't need to check in with me," House said irritably.

"I need a ride home," Wilson said. "Would you mind giving me one?"

House didn't mind too much, it meant he would get out of clinic. However, he was interested in his case and was reluctant to leave. He was trying to figure out which was more important to him when he saw the miserable look on Wilson's face. "No problem, let's go."

"Just like that?" Wilson asked. "No argument, no persuasion?"

House stared at him. "Are you OK?"

Wilson shook himself. "Yeah, fine."

"No you're not!" House accused. "Come with me, we're going to the pharmacy."

"Why? You have your pills, I just wrote you a script two days ago" Wilson pointed out.

"We're not going for me," House replied. He ducked into his office, grabbed his prescription pad, car keys, and his bag before going back to where Wilson was standing.

"I don't need meds," Wilson told him as they walked to the elevator. "I'll be fine."

"You're depressed," House said.

"Since when did you care about depression? If we're going to diagnose depression we're starting with you," Wilson snapped. He felt anger coursing through his veins. House had no right to prescribe him antidepressants when he didn't want any. "Besides, I'm not depressed."

"Shut up," House snapped back, his voice happy.

Wilson wanted to hit him over the head with his cast. "Are you only happy when I'm miserable?" he demanded.

"No, but I like the idea that I get to prescribe you medicine," House replied.

Wilson fought the urge to grab House's cane and beat him with it when the elevator doors opened and they walked out and towards the pharmacy. "I don't need any."

House ignored him and went over to the pharmacist. "Wellbutrin XL," he said as he scribbled on the pad.

"Patient?" the pharmacist asked in a bored tone. He knew Dr. House very well and he also knew that the man would probably prescribe himself medicine if he could.

"Right there," House answered, jerking his thumb in Wilson's direction.

The pharmacist nodded and went to fill the bottle.

"You had to tell the truth?" Wilson moaned out. "Now I've got to listen to rumors about how you prescribed me a strong antidepressant."

"It won't be a rumor, it'll be true," House replied with a creepy smile on his face. "Just be thankful I'm not prescribing anything that will get rid of your sex drive or make you gain weight." He took on a thoughtful look. "Of course, you're probably all ready sex drive-less."

Wilson flipped him off. "You're such an ass."

The pharmacist put the pills down and Wilson snatched them off of the counter before stalking out the doors and towards the garage.

**A/N for extrabitter: **Thank you for pointing out my mistake on this chapter. I changed it.


	9. Failed

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me. The definition at the bottom comes from Webster's Dictionary.

**A/N: **Check out my new one-shot fic and review it! It's called 'House's in White' and uses one of the America songs. Thank you to my reviewers, please review again!

**Chapter 9: Failed**

_Depression: _

_1) The state of being depressed; a sinking_

_2) A falling in of the surface; a sinking below its true place;_

_a cavity or hollow; as, roughness consists in little _

_protuberances and depressions._

_3) Humiliation; abasement, as of pride._

_4) Dejection; despondency; lowness._

House limped quickly after Wilson; an annoyed expression on his face. He knew that Wilson had only asked him for a ride home because he didn't want to take a taxi. House didn't blame him for his reasoning, it made sense to him.

Wilson was waiting at House's car when House finally caught up to him. Wilson was holding the antidepressants in his hand and a strange look was on his face.

"Did you take one?" House asked while unlocking the car and getting in.

"No," Wilson replied. He snickered and shook his head before getting into the car. He found it ironic that he was being prescribed pills by a drug addict. It seemed to be a nasty twist.

House started the car and pulled out. "You should take one. They'll probably help. If they don't, you could always sell them on the black market."

"For some reason, I doubt that the black market would want antidepressants," Wilson replied with a smirk.

"You'd be surprised…" House trailed off with a small smile.

"Please don't tell me that's how you get your Vicodin when I'm not around." Wilson looked at the evil grin spreading across House's face and said quickly, "I don't want to know."

House laughed. "I'll introduce you to…" He stopped when he heard Wilson's pager go off.

"Hang on," Wilson muttered and looked at his pager. He scoffed when he read it.

"Patient?" House asked.

"Julie," Wilson replied. He sighed and slumped back in the chair. "She probably got a hold of the lawyer."

"She shouldn't have paged you," House said. Spouses, or soon-to-be ex-spouse in Wilson's case, weren't supposed to call a doctor's pager unless it was an emergency and House didn't consider Julie getting a hold of the divorce lawyer to be all that important.

"She probably called the house and the hospital but since I'm not there decided to page me," Wilson said with a shrug.

"What about your cell?" House asked, turning off the highway and down Wilson's street.

"Smashed it in the crash," Wilson replied. "It's OK, I understand."

"I don't believe you!" House snapped. "She cheated on you first, demanded the divorce, lied to you, went behind your back, and you're defending her?"

"You're mad at me? Mr. 'Everyone lies and I hate them'?" Wilson shook his head. "No wonder Stacy left…" Wilson stopped and looked horrified at what had just come out of his mouth.

House slammed on his breaks and Wilson was flung back on his seat, hitting his head and jerking his neck in the process.

"Come on, man!" Wilson snapped, rubbing his neck with a pained expression. "Can't you learn to drive?"

House touched the gas and the car started again. "You whine too much."

"I've been in one too many car crashes this week," Wilson muttered angrily. "I didn't need that."

"Whatever," House answered.

They drove down the street and House pulled into Wilson's driveway. "She could have called my cell."

Wilson laughed. "Like you'd answer."

"I would!" House protested.

Wilson smirked. "To curse at her perhaps. Or to pretend like she'd gotten the wrong number."

House had a dreamy expression on his face. "Okay, maybe I would do that sort of thing."

Wilson snorted. "She's also afraid of you."

"She hates me," House replied. "Hate doesn't mean fear."

"You hate her," Wilson pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't fear her. I don't think, 'Oh no, here comes scary Julie, I better watch out or she'll yell at me' whenever I have to go near her," House said sarcastically.

Wilson grinned a little. "Fine, have it your way." He opened the door and got out. "I'll see you later. Sorry about the Stacy comment."

House nodded silently, his jaw clenched. House noted that Wilson looked genuinely sorry. When someone was depressed, they often said things that they didn't mean to say, even if it was the truth; House knew that.

Wilson closed the door and headed up his driveway to the door. He took his keys out of his pocket.

"James," House called, his voice slightly quiet.

Wilson turned around with a sigh. He was expecting to be yelled at.

"You've got a key to my apartment?" House asked, his tone bored.

"Yeah," Wilson answered surprised.

"Okay," House said and drove off. He knew he'd probably see Wilson in the next day or two.

That had been House's way of forgiving him and he felt gratitude towards his friend. Wilson smiled to himself and went in to his house.

* * *

The first thing Wilson did when he got into his house was change in to jeans and a t-shirt. He enjoyed looking nice at work but at home he wanted something a lot more comfortable. Once he'd changed, he put the pills in a cabinet and went to get a glass of water.

He knew that he was depressed but he didn't want to treat it with pills. He wasn't suffering from a physical ache like House did; this was an emotional one, one he didn't really want to treat with medicine. Weighing how he was feeling at the moment to how he'd felt in the previous divorces, he had to say this was the worst of them. Of course, the fact that he'd broken his left wrist was what tipped the scales.

Grabbing a glass from the kitchen cupboard, he filled it with water from the fridge and took a sip.

He nearly dropped the glass when the phone rang. He had been dwelling on the antidepressants and hadn't been too aware of what was around him.

Setting the water down, he went to answer the phone.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"James, it's Julie," said the voice on the other end.

Like she needed to tell him that, he scoffed. "Hi, Julie," was what he said instead with a soft tone. Yelling at her would get him nowhere.

"James, listen, I got a hold of the lawyer. Are you busy tomorrow?"

She sounded hesitant, he thought.

"No," he answered.

"That's a first," she muttered, the angry tone he'd become accustomed to quite evident in her voice.

"Yeah," he whispered with a sigh. "I guess it is."

Julie didn't bother to apologize, but her tone when she said the next few words told him she felt a little bad for the barb. "Well, I was hoping you could meet me tomorrow to sign the papers."

"Yeah, I can do that," Wilson responded. "What time?"

"Ten O'clock," she answered and rattled off an address.

"I'll see you," Wilson said.

"Bye," Julie replied and the phone clicked down.

When she hung up, Wilson slumped against the wall. He'd failed again when it came to marriage and he realized that this was the time in his previous two marriages that he had gone out and had anonymous sex with some girl. He didn't feel like doing that this time. In fact, he really wanted to be alone.

'_I'd better call my brother_,' he thought, '_before I get too upset._'

He picked up the phone and dialed his brother's number.

"Hello?" a cheerful voice on the other end greeted.

"David? Hey, it's James," Wilson said, wishing he hadn't called.

"Hey!" David sounded delighted. "What's up?"

"Not too much," Wilson lied. "How's Hannah?"

"She's great," David answered, obviously pleased that his brother was asking. "How's Julie?"

"Uh…" Wilson hesitated.

"Oh, I'm sorry," David replied.

Wilson sighed. His brother clearly knew about the divorce just from the hesitation. Well, David always had been good and knowing what was going on even when no one told him.

"Look, Jim, I've got to go, Hannah and I were on our way out," David said. "It's good to hear from you and I'll call you later."

"All right," Wilson replied.

"Bye."

"Bye," Wilson echoed and hung up.

He felt a little dejected. His brother and Hannah had such a great marriage. They always had been happy together, ever since they'd first met six years before. It was something James had always envied David for but it wasn't because he wanted Hannah or anything, it was because he wanted to be happy too.

* * *

House sat on his piano bench playing an old Beatles song and smiling wryly. The Beatles were always a good thing to play since they had a song for nearly every emotion. 

He thought about Wilson and hoped he hadn't killed himself over Julie. House scoffed, James was probably out getting drunk and hitting on some pretty 'blonde thing'. He didn't know that nothing could be farther from the truth…


	10. History

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **Thank you for your kind reviews in both this chapter and the previous one: Ivory Novelist, extrabitter, Germiphobe, Nayvera, Rennie51, Zombie Kitty, evila-elf, and G. Sky.

**A/N2: **This will be more of a flashback chapter than anything else. The flashback will be in italics. Since we don't really know too much about House's past before the infarction, I've taken to making up my own. Please don't get mad at me. If anyone knows something I'll be happy to make the changes I need to make.

**Special thanks: **Special thanks to Rennie51 for her input on this chapter. I very nearly didn't post it but she assured me that it was good and that she enjoyed it. Thank you so much for your help!

**Chapter 10: History **

_Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay  
Oh, I believe in yesterday._

_Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be,  
There's a shadow hanging over me.  
Oh, yesterday came suddenly._

_- The Beatles_

House's fingers played a new song, a softer one with a light melody. He savored the sound of it and the memory it brought back of when he'd first met Wilson eight years before. Back to when Dr. Palon was head of diagnostics and the hospital was a much different place.

* * *

_Thirty-five year-old Dr. Greg House sat in the Diagnostics office listening to his boss, Dr. Palon, go on about a boy who'd been brought in with Tourettes Syndrome. He knew about it and let the residents in the department listen.__When they were dismissed, Dr. Palon called House back. _ "We've got med students coming this afternoon to do a turn in our department. You've been assigned to help one along, as has everyone else in the department," she said.

_House nodded. "How many are there?"_

"_Four," she answered. "The one you're assigned is perhaps the brightest of the bunch."_

"_They interested in nephrology or diagnostics?" he asked, figuring that he would be assigned to help a med student who was going for similar degrees as his own._

"_Neither," she replied, a small smile on her face. Of the four residents in her department, Dr. House was the most frustrating and the most intelligent. He was probably the only one that would remain in diagnostics anyway since the others wanted to pursue different things at different hospitals. She thought he was good fun even if he did have a cocky streak. _

"_How exciting!" House said sarcastically, managing to startle a laugh out of Palon. "What are they interested in?"_

"_Oncology," she answered. _

"_Ew," House replied, this time managing to make Palon roll her eyes. _

"_His name's James Wilson and he's in his final year. He'll probably be a resident here very soon," Palon told him. _

"_I don't need his life story," House muttered. _

_Palon snorted. "This is his fourth rotation in the hospital before he's staffed permanently in oncology."_

_House looked surprised. "So they're going to hire him?"_

"_Looks that way," Palon confirmed. _

_House nodded, he was interested in this newcomer now. He raised his eyebrows with a grin. "I can't wait for him to start."_

_Palon rolled her eyes and walked off. "Don't be late this afternoon," she called over her shoulder as she headed to the elevator._

_

* * *

_

_Later that afternoon House returned to the diagnostics office to see four med students, Dr. Palon, and the other three residents that were currently in diagnostics. _

"_Thank you for joining us," Dr. Palon said as House walked in to the meeting room. _

"_A pleasure," he said with a cocky smile and sat down opposite Rekha, an Indian resident who shook her head in annoyance. _

"_Now that Dr. House has finally graced us with his presence, let's get started. As you know, four med students have been assigned to our department for the last three months of their medical school teaching. Some of them will stay on as residents and others will be at other hospitals, but I suggest you treat them like the doctors they will soon be," she said, settling House with an evil eye before continuing. "They are all interested in working with us from what I can gather so please, respect their opinions."_

_There were nods from the residents as she said this. They could all remember what it was like to be in their mid twenties and about ready to start their careers. _

_Quickly Dr. Palon introduced the four students and what they were going to be doing if they passed their exams later in the year. _

_There was Alexander Swift, a black haired, brown eyed man interested in dermatology; Daniel Wei, a Chinese man interested in the ER; Caitlyn Penton, a petit blond haired, blue eyed girl interested in cardiology; and finally, there was James Wilson, a brownish haired man, with brown eyes and a boyish face, who was interested in oncology. _

_House studied them and decided that he liked the look of the girl. She looked like a girl who knew what she wanted and being the only girl among the group, she probably knew how to handle herself. He thought she could probably go far in her profession if she was as smart as she was pretty. _

_He also thought the men looked like they had promise. The Chinese man looked like he was bubbling with enthusiasm and seemed to be interested in everything that was around him. House turned to look at the black haired man who also looked interested, but skipped over him since he found dermatology to be quite boring. _

_Finally, his eyes landed on his med student and House grinned. The man looked too young to be in his final year of med school – he looked about twenty-two – and he looked a little too vulnerable to go in to the oncology department. Well, that's how House felt anyway. _

"_I don't want you sending the students out for your coffee," Dr. Palon was saying. "They're here to learn, not be your slaves." She was perhaps one of the only doctors who didn't treat the med students like servants._

_House locked eyes with James Wilson and gave him an evil grin which made the boyish man smirk. Obviously James knew who he was going to be working under. _

"_Go, get to know your students," Palon said. "And check on your patients!" She said the last part for more House's benefit than for anyone else's._

_House watched them file out, each med student paired off with a doctor except for James who was looking at House with expressionless eyes. _

"_Play nice," Palon whispered to House as she walked out of the meeting room and down the hall to her office. _

"_So you're Dr. House," James commented, making no mistake that he was stating a fact and not asking a question._

"_Yup, why? You hear things about me, Jimmy?" House asked with a sly smile._

"_From plenty of people, especially the nurses in nephrology," he answered, ignoring the nickname. _

"_Well, don't worry, I don't bite as hard as they say I do," House teased and saw a grin on the younger man's face. "How old are you?"_

"_Twenty-seven," he answered. _

"_Brothers? Sisters?" House asked. _

"_One brother," Wilson replied. "Nosey, aren't you?"_

_House smirked. "Always live in New Jersey?"_

"_Mostly. Lived in New York when I was a kid, though," he said. _

"_What part?" House asked._

"_Manhattan," he answered. _

"_How long?"_

"_Until I was ten." James didn't seem bothered by the questions. He had been told that House was interested in people and was willing to answer just about anything._

"_Why are you becoming a doctor?"_

"_My dad's a lawyer; I figured he'd like to have someone who's able to take care of him when he gets ulcers from all of his cases," James answered with a small grin. "My mom owns a dress shop."_

_House snickered. "So you're Jewish?"_

_It took James a moment to collect himself from that comment. "Well, yeah. Why?"_

"_Your dad is a lawyer, you're in medical school, and your mom owns her own shop." House shrugged. "Isn't that a little cliché?"_

_Wilson rolled his eyes. He'd heard as much from his brother who was a teacher and the only one to really break from 'Jewish Tradition'. "I'm Jewish, so what?"_

"_Exactly my point, I don't care," House replied. "I'm not the one who reacted oddly when I asked if you were Jewish."_

_James scoffed. _

"_Why oncology?" House asked. _

"_I think it's interesting."_

"_Good enough for me," House said and got up to leave, Wilson following him dutifully._

_

* * *

_

House smiled at the memory. He and James had gotten along really well but once the three months were up and summer came, he didn't see James for nearly two months. He'd run into him on his first day of work in oncology when he'd been avoiding Palon.

"_Oh, hey, Greg," James said cheerfully, walking in to the oncology lounge. _

"_So they hired you," House commented. "Congrats. I'll send you a hooker."_

_Wilson laughed. "I don't think my fiancé would appreciate that."_

_House gaped at him. "You're only twenty-seven and you're about to get married? I knew you had a girlfriend but, wow…"_

"_I'll be twenty-eight next month." James plopped himself into the seat next to House. "So how're things with your girlfriend?"_

"_We've been dating three years," House answered. "You're friends with her."_

_Wilson shrugged. He'd liked Stacy but he wasn't quite ready to call her a friend. He thought it was a little weird that she worked at the hospital though. It was sort of like 'Big Brother is watching you' from "_1984_" when he thought about it. "She's able to handle you."_

_House rolled his eyes. "How do you like working here?"_

"_It's about the same as when I was a student only I'm addressed as Dr. Wilson rather than, 'Jimmy'," he said with a glint in his eyes. _

"_Okay, Dr. Wilson," House said sarcastically, getting up to leave. "I've got a patient."_

"_Why doesn't Dr. Reddy cover it?" Wilson asked, referring to the Indian girl._

"_She left," House answered. "She got a fellowship offer in Washington."_

"_Dr. Issac?" Wilson asked._

"_He's transferred to neurology," House said. "Robinson's gone too."_

"_I know," Wilson said with a small grin. "He's in oncology with me."_

"_I'm the only one left. We've got some new residents coming in but I've got a partnership now," House told him, hand on the doorknob. _

"_Congrats, maybe I'll be the one to send the hooker," Wilson taunted. _

_House laughed and left the room._

_

* * *

_

Wilson sat on the couch in his house seriously considering buying a dog. He hated to be alone and he'd welcome a creature in the house, even if it couldn't talk to him. He'd had a dog when he was a really little kid and his brother and his wife had a poodle, but he'd never actually had a dog of his own before and wasn't sure if he was up to taking care of it.

He sighed, wishing that the wave of depression would pass and he could get back to feeling normal. However, he doubted that would happen anytime soon.

Seizing the phone from the table next to the couch, he punched in the number for a taxi.

* * *

Wilson arrived at House's apartment and let himself in using his spare keys. He knew that House wouldn't mind if he just came in.

The first thing that hit him when he walked in the door was the sound of the piano followed by House's friendly greeting of, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was…lonely," Wilson replied carefully, wondering if perhaps he should have just stayed home.

House looked over at his friend. "You hungry?" He noticed that Wilson looked nervous and rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to bite you. Sit down, eat my food, drink my beer, do what you normally do over here."

"That sort of rhymes," Wilson said with a wry smile.

House snorted. "Did you take the happy pills?"

"No." Wilson collapsed on the couch. "I don't want meds."

House shook his head. "I gave them to you for a reason, not just so that we could have an addiction problem in common," he said sarcastically.

"I understand, but don't you think it's better if I try to get over this on my own. That way I don't become too reliant on the antidepressants," Wilson said, his voice strained.

"Whatever." House turned back to the piano and started to play another Beatles song.

"I talked to Julie," Wilson ventured after a few minutes.

"She call a lawyer?" House asked, still playing.

"Yeah. We're going to go over paperwork tomorrow. You know, decide which things are mine and which are hers," Wilson said quietly.

"Keep the TV, I like your TV," House said, sarcasm leaking in to his voice. "Of course, keeping a wife would be a little bit better. Then you could keep all of your stuff."

Wilson clenched his jaw. "That wasn't fair."

House sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."

Wilson smiled weakly. "I might go visit my brother."

House grunted.

Wilson decided it was probably not the time to talk to House since his friend seemed lost in his own world. Sighing, he went up to get some food and a beer.

* * *

"_We're getting a divorce," Wilson said miserably to House one day after work. He'd only been married for ten months but House knew he'd started having affairs after seven of those months. _

_House sighed. "I'm sorry."_

"_Me too," Wilson said sadly, tears in his eyes. "It's my fault."_

"_She find out about the hookers?" House asked, trying to lighten the mood._

"_Yeah." Wilson laughed slightly, almost a choked laugh, and there were tears on his cheeks. "Yeah, she found out about them."_


	11. Weddings

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me. I don't own the quotes at the beginning.

**A/N: **I've actually become quite attached to the flashback thing and I have the next chapter being a flashback too. It is a whole lot longer so that I can fit the flashbacks in but I promise that the next one will be the last one. Mainly I'm doing this because I want to show how the characters developed; the other reason I'm doing this is because I'm having tons of fun doing so. So please, bear with me and try to enjoy. I think you'll like what I have coming up.

**A/N2: **Since fanfic has decided to ban reviewer responses I would like to thank: Rennie51, Germiphobe, evila-elf, tranquil-eyes, and g. Also, thank you to Rennie 51 for her help and unput. It is much appreciated.

**Chapter 11: Weddings**

_All marriages are happy. It's the living together afterward that causes all the trouble.__  
-__Raymond Hull_

House listened to Wilson nosing around in his kitchen and kept playing his piano. He didn't often dwell on things but the past memories of Wilson were coming back and he wanted to remember how his friend had acted in all of his previous divorces.

"_I got an offer at Hartman Hospital with Jerry Lousing," Wilson announced a few weeks after he and Katie had divorced. _

"_Fellowship?" House asked, curiosity eating away at him._

"_Residency," Wilson answered. _

"_Why take it? That's what you've got here," House pointed out, taking a bite of his pasta and pulling a face. They were in the cafeteria eating lunch._

"_I know, but I'd like to see some other techniques." Wilson took a bite of his sandwich, looking down at his plate to avoid House's eyes. _

_House snorted. _

_Wilson grinned. "I start in a month." He finished his sandwich and stood up. He turned when he heard House's voice. "You say something?"_

_House nodded a little, a solemn look on his face. "Running away isn't going to make you forget about Katie."_

_Wilson stopped. Without turning he said, "That's not why I'm taking the job."_

"_Explain to me why you are," House said, looking up expectantly. _

_Wilson turned around, heaved a sigh, and sat back down at the table. "Look, I talked it over with Jones," he said, meaning the Head of Oncology, "he agreed to release me from my residency. Said a change of scenery would be a good idea. He also agreed with me that I should learn from some other doctors." He saw the skeptical look on House's face. "Uh, it's only a residency, House!" _

"_Not 'Greg' to you anymore?" House asked sarcastically. Very few people addressed House by his first name, most of them just called him by his last name since it was easier to shorten Dr. House than get their head bitten off for shortening Gregory. "It hurts, Jimmy."_

_Wilson grinned. He knew House wasn't upset with him – he was merely testing him. "I start tomorrow," he said and left the cafeteria. _

_House nodded at the words and whispered, "Bye, Jimmy." Figuring from now on he'd hear of his friend as Dr. Wilson rather than the med student by the name of Jimmy or Jim._

"Where's your remote?" Wilson asked, startling House out of the memory.

"No where you can find it," House said, pulling it out of his pocket and earning himself a very strange look from Wilson. "'_General Hospital' _is on in twenty minutes."

"Like that matters," Wilson muttered. "You're not working on a case, you don't need to think."

House mulled that over. "Good point. Catch." He tossed the remote to Wilson who barely caught it. "You catch like a girl."

"Your aim was off and this is my right hand," Wilson retorted. He turned the TV on and flipped through the channels, stopping when he found a soccer game.

House grabbed his cane and pushed himself off of the piano bench before sitting in his chair to watch the game with Wilson.

After a few minutes, House broke the silence. "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Wilson asked, only half listening.

"Break your arm," House said, eyeing the cast. "I understand you wanted sex but you could have always used the 'My wife left me for another guy' line to get some."

Wilson glared at him. "Yeah, that's it."

"Well," House probed.

"Well what?" Wilson snapped, getting annoyed. "There isn't anything to it." He saw the disbelief on House's face and rolled his eyes. "I was upset; I didn't feel like being here so I headed home. I wasn't paying much attention to the road and I hit the gas a little too hard and ran in to a wall. Sue me." He flipped through the channels again, this time settling on the news. "I feel bad for those people in Louisiana. Katrina really got them badly."

House grunted.

Wilson sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to admit you did something stupid, I want you to say you're depressed!" House snapped. "You're emotionally sick, James."

Wilson shook his head, wishing House hadn't chosen that exact phrase. He'd heard it from Greg before, but for a different reason.

_Wilson knocked on House's door with an offering of Chinese food. He'd been working at Hartman Hospital for nearly two years and found it to be a nice place. He missed PPTH but he and House had stayed close friends and that made him feel good._

"_Hey," House greeted and stepped aside to let Wilson in. _

"_How's Stacy?"_ _he asked, walking in and sitting on the couch and depositing the Chinese on the coffee table. He knew Stacy's father had just had a heart attack and she'd flown to Illinois to see him._

"_She's good. Her father's fine so she'll be back in a few days," House answered, closing the door and joining Wilson. "How's Emma?"_

"_Really good," Wilson said enthusiastically. "We're really happy together."_

_House studied him. "You're getting married, aren't you?"_

_Wilson grinned stupidly. "Yeah."_

"_You're emotionally sick, James," House said with a smirk. "You love too easily."_

"_There's nothing wrong with that," Wilson said defensively. _

_House ran a hand over his hair. "I know; it works for you." _

"_Be my best man?" Wilson asked, his eyes a little worried. _

_House picked up one of the fried dumplings. "Doesn't your brother want to do that?"_

_Wilson's mouth quirked. "He said you could do it this time."_

_House sniggered. "Is it a traditional Jewish wedding?"_

"_No, Emma isn't Jewish," Wilson replied. "You know that, why are you asking?"_

"_Curious," House answered. _

_Wilson rolled his eyes._

_House gave Wilson a cocky grin and ate another dumpling. _

"_I don't know why I asked," Wilson muttered angrily, getting up and heading for the door. _

"_I'll do it," House said, making Wilson turn and give him a smile. "On one condition."_

"_What's that?" Wilson asked, a little worried; House could be about to ask him for anything. That, in itself, was a scary thought. _

"_Promise you won't name me godfather to any children you two might have." _

_Wilson laughed and nodded. "It's a deal," he said and joined House on the couch to finish off the Chinese. _

"What time are you meeting Julie tomorrow?" House asked, figuring Wilson wasn't going to answer his pill question.

"Ten," Wilson answered.

"Then you're going to head up to your brother's?"

"I don't know." Wilson looked over at House. "I was considering getting a dog or something. That way I'll have some company in the house. It's a little lonely in there."

"You're turning in to that weirdo that lives on every street. You know the one that offers kids cookies and has a bunch of pets." House grinned. "You're becoming a cat-lady."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "You're the weirdo on this street."

"I'm a recluse, not a cat-lady," House said, still grinning.

Wilson laughed and the two were quiet for a while. Thunder roared overhead and Wilson finally spoke, "Can I stay over here tonight?"

"Afraid of a little rain?" House taunted, grabbing the remote and flicking through the channels. He didn't want to watch anymore about the hurricane.

"Of course," Wilson said sarcastically.

House wasn't really listening to Wilson anymore; his attention had been caught by the wedding on television.

_On the day of the wedding House wore a tux and earned himself some compliments from Stacy, Emma, and many other people. To House's chagrin, Wilson was one of the people who offered him a compliment. _

"_You look nice," Wilson told him before the wedding when he was putting his tie on. "You ought to wear something nice for work."_

"_How do you know I don't?" House snapped. _

_Wilson snorted. "I worked with you, I know how you dress."_

"_Then why bother commenting?" he asked. _

_Wilson rolled his eyes. "I don't know what came over me."_

"_At least I don't let my girlfriend dress me," House said with a small grin. _

_Wilson gave him a dirty look. "I'm a man, I don't like to shop. She's a woman…"_

"_I should hope so," House interrupted, earning himself another dirty look._

"…_she enjoys shopping," Wilson finished. _

"_And your doctor's salary gives her plenty of money to spend." House raised his eyebrows. _

"_Hey, not today, I'm getting married," Wilson said, shrugging in to his jacket. _

"_How long is it going to last this time?" He saw the hurt expression on Wilson's face and knew he'd gone too far. "That was mean, and uncalled for, I'm sorry."_

"_Say you're happy for me," Wilson pleaded. "Emma's different."_

"_You have my blessing," House said after a moment._

_Wilson chewed his lip and nodded. "I guess that'll do."_

_House nodded. He didn't know why he couldn't tell Wilson he wasn't happy for him. He just didn't think he could agree to Wilson's choice for marrying Emma. The girl was odd. "It's not that I don't like the idea of you two getting married…"_

"_You don't have to explain yourself but I do wish you'd give me the benefit of the doubt," Wilson said with a small smile. He couldn't fault Greg for being skeptical. _

_House nodded; thinking over what Wilson had said. "I'm happy for you."_

"_Thank you," Wilson said. "This time it will be different." _

"Well?" Wilson asked. He looked from House to the wedding on TV. "Oh, come on!"

"Yeah, you can stay." He changed the channel and settled down to watch '_General Hospital_'.


	12. Leaving

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N:** This chapter is much longer than my previous ones but I really wanted to get over the flashbacks and to the rest of the fic. I have more planned and I thought that if I could get the backgrounds out then I could get on with the fic. I do apologize for the flashbacks but I've really enjoyed them.

**Chapter 12: Leaving**

_Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?_

_-Francois de La Rochefoucauld _

Wilson dozed on the couch. He was tired and the past few days had taken a lot out of him. House figured the depression was also causing him to sleep more but he wasn't going to bring that up again. Wilson had already come pretty close to yelling at him for that.

'General Hospital' ended so House flipped through the channels. He landed on a TLC special and deciding to watch that. It was always fun to laugh at how stupid some of the doctors were.

"What does she have?" a man asked one of the doctors on TV.

* * *

"_Cancer," Dr. Matos, one of the new residents in diagnostics, argued with House. _

"_No, it isn't," House snapped at him. _

_Matos rolled his eyes and looked at a fellow resident who simply shrugged. Groaning, he turned back to House. "I had the pathologist check the biopsy twice!"_

"_You're wrong," House snapped again. "It isn't cancer. The pathologist is wrong."_

_Matos looked angry. "Do I need to call a consult?"_

_House gave him wry grin. "Go ahead; I still think you're wrong."_

"_It's his case, Dr. House," the other resident said quietly. _

"_Doesn't mean he's right," House snapped. He was not going down without a fight. He was positive the patient didn't have cancer and giving her chemo would be a death sentence if he was right. "He can't override me on this; I'm head of this department now that Palon died." He felt a stab of pain when he said that. Palon had been a good friend to him and since she'd died of a heart attack only two months before, he was still grieving._

"_I'm calling for a consult," Matos announced and stormed out of the room._

_

* * *

_

House laughed at the memory. He knew Dr. Matos was now working for Princeton General as an oncologist but he remembered how wrong that man had been with the diagnosis. The consult he had called for had confirmed it.

* * *

_The next day, Matos walked in and sat down at the table across from House. "I called for a consult from a different hospital."_

"_Who is it?" House asked in a bored tone as he flipped through a sports magazine. _

"_He's not from _this_ hospital. You wouldn't know him," Matos said smugly. _

"_How did you find him?" House asked, flipping a page. He was only asking because he wanted Matos to shut up. "And where is he?"_

"_He's a resident," Matos began but House cut him off. _

"_A resident? You called a _resident_ for a consult call?" House demanded. "You idiot! You're supposed to call someone who knows what they're talking about."_

_Matos sniffed; after all, he was a resident himself. "He was highly recommended by Dr. Lousing." _

_House paused, he recognized that name but he couldn't remember where from. He shrugged it off; the memory would come to him eventually. "So where is this guy?"_

"_He's coming," Matos replied. _

_House got up. "Well, when he comes, page me."_

_

* * *

_

_Matos paged House an hour later and told him to go to pathology. House was in the clinic at the time and was thrilled with the idea of meeting the unfortunate resident. _

_When he walked in to pathology he saw Matos conversing at a table with the female med student in the department Danielle Cleever and a brown haired man whose head was bowed. House figured they were going over the chart and stayed hidden in the shadows of the room to hear what they said. _

"_It's cancer," Matos said to them. _

"_I don't know," Cleever said slowly. "It could be something else. Something we've missed." _

"_Let me see." The other man took the file. "It looks like it probably is cancer." He looked up and House saw his face for the first time and decided to stay in the shadows while the three talked. "But I'd still like to check for myself."_

"_House does this crap all the time," Matos snapped. "He's always got some weird theory."_

"_House? I thought you worked for Robinson." The man frowned. _

"_He wishes," Cleever said. _

"_Where _is_ House?" Matos demanded. _

"_Oh, I'm sure he's around here somewhere," the man said with a rueful grin at the shadowy corner. _

_House snickered and walked over to them. "This is your idea of a consult? An almost-thirty year old boy?"_

"_Dr. Lousing said he was the best at their hospital," Matos told House, trying his best to keep his voice calm. _

"_What else did he say?" House asked, trying not to grin. _

"_What does it matter?" Matos demanded. "He was recommended. Why isn't that enough for you?"_

"_Just answer the question," House commanded. _

_Matos sighed. "He said that Dr. Wilson was a wonder to the oncology department at their hospital."_

_House looked like a child for whom Christmas had come early. "James Wilson, Boy Wonder Oncologist."_

_Wilson groaned and put his head in his hands. "Now I'm going to have to listen to that for the rest of my life."_

"_You know him?" Matos was clearly stricken._

"_Yeah," Wilson muttered, "unfortunately."_

"_He was my med student," House said. "He understands the pain you're going through." House sat down on a stool. "So what do you think, _Wilson_?"_

"_I want a biopsy of my own, _House_," Wilson answered. They never used last names since they were good friends but Wilson decided that if Greg was going to start that, then he was going to continue. "The pathology looks pretty conclusive but I know that means nothing to you."_

"_I've missed working with you," House said with a grin. "At least you listen to my ideas."_

"_Don't flatter yourself," Wilson said, grinning back._

_

* * *

_

House remembered the look on Matos's face when Wilson had announced that the woman didn't have cancer. It had been a cause for Matos to check the biopsy himself and announce that he'd been wrong. House had snapped at him to check a biopsy for himself in the future because you couldn't always rely on what the pathologist said.

* * *

Wilson woke at seven that evening with rigor mortis of the neck. He cursed when he tried to look to the right. "Do you have any Advil? My neck hurts"

House looked at Wilson with a look that clearly wanted to know if his friend was on drugs. When that didn't produce a result he took out his Vicodin and shook the bottle. "What do you think these help cure?" he asked.

Wilson groaned. "Do you have _anything_ with acetaminophenin it that isn't as addictive or dangerous as Vicodin?"

"No, but I've got some ibuprofen," House replied. "It's in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom."

Wilson nodded and went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom to get the pills. He shook one out in to his hand and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He was taking the pill when he heard House's phone ring. Like always, House ignored it so Wilson didn't bother to answer it either.

Wilson was walking back to the couch when he heard the message being recorded and noticed House glaring angrily at the answering machine.

"_Greg, it's Stacy_," the message machine recorded, "_I was wondering if I could buy you dinner. It has nothing to do with what I said a few days ago, I just want to do it as a thank you." _She sighed in to the phone. _"I'll talk to you later since you're ignoring me right now."_

"What was that about?" Wilson asked as he walked in to the room.

"She wanted to take me to dinner," House replied, his voice annoyed. "You heard it."

"Yeah, I did, and I want to know what she said a few days ago," Wilson informed him. "You've been weird the last few days and I think that there is something personal going on."

House gave him a horrible look. "It's nothing."

"Oh, yeah," Wilson said sarcastically, "'nothing' always makes you act like this."

House glared at him but sighed and looked like he was considering something. After a few moments he said, "She told me I was the one for her but that we could never be together since I don't make enough time for her."

"The one as in _The One_?" Wilson asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Yeah," House replied. "That's what she meant."

"Wow," Wilson said and sat down on the couch. "Now I understand why you've been so weird."

House snorted.

"What are you going to do?"

"Same thing I've been doing: I'll ignore her," he answered. He wanted Wilson to shut up. He'd been dwelling on this and he just wanted it to go away. '_Damn Stacy_!' he thought. '_Damn her for saying anything about how she still feels!_'

"Ignoring her isn't going to solve anything," Wilson said.

"Yeah, you learned that with Emma, didn't you," House shot at him.

Wilson turned away.

* * *

"_I've been offered a job," Wilson told House one day after they'd finished playing lacrosse with some of their friends. _

"_Cool," House said. "Where?"_

"_Princeton-Plainsboro," Wilson replied happily. _

"_Fellowship this time?" House asked with a grin. _

"_Nope," Wilson answered, his eyes dancing. _

"_Partnership?" House knew Wilson deserved to have a partnership. At thirty years old he had established himself as one of the best oncologists in the area. _

"_No," Wilson answered. _

"_What are you then?" House was curious. "The new administrator?"_

_Wilson snorted. "They offered me Head of Oncology. Jones is retiring and he said I should have the spot."_

"_That's quite an honor," House said seriously. _

"_I know," Wilson replied. "I'm excited."_

"_You know what this means?" House said with a smirk on his face. _

"_What's that?" Wilson asked._

"_You get to buy me lunch every day. It'll be just like when you were in med school," House taunted. _

_Wilson snickered and hit House lightly with his lacrosse stick. "In your dreams," he said and ran off the field before House could hit him back._

_House grinned and chased after Wilson._

_

* * *

_

"_That's not a happy look," House said when Wilson walked in to the diagnostics conference room where House had two residents going through medical textbooks. _

_The residents looked up but House didn't offer them any explanation when he and Wilson walked out of the room. They'd become used to the comings and goings of the two doctors in the last six months that Wilson had worked at PPTH._

"_So what happened?" House asked when he and Wilson walked outside of the hospital to a coffee table. _

"_Emma's pregnant," Wilson said miserably. _

_House looked confused. "How is that bad news? I thought you wanted kids."_

"_Not yet," Wilson answered slowly. "Besides, it's not my kid."_

"_How do you know?" House asked but regretted asking when Wilson looked upset. "You don't have to answer that…"_

"_I've been ignoring her since I started working here and we haven't had sex in at least four months," Wilson admitted, not meeting House's eyes. _

"_I guess that explains why you've been so touchy lately," House muttered. _

_Wilson sighed. He decided it was probably best just to ignore that remark. He'd known House for two years and had learned that if his friend made a snide remark it was normally in his best interest if he didn't comment on it. "I messed up again," he moaned. _

"_You didn't do anything wrong this time," House said. _

"_I didn't see her as often as I should have. I wasn't always around," Wilson replied, his eyes on the table. "I could have done more."_

"_I'm not always around for Stacy and we've been together for five years," House pointed out. "You didn't do anything wrong, James." Wilson looked up at the sound of his name. "She just wasn't able to handle being a doctor's wife."_

_Wilson nodded slightly. "I guess."_

"_Did you file for divorce?" House asked. _

"_Yeah," Wilson said miserably. "I called the lawyer a few hours ago." He put his head in his hands. "I'm only thirty years old and this is my second divorce." Tears leaked through his fingers. "I guess this is what you get for ignoring someone you love."_

_House bit his lip and rested a hand on Wilson's shoulder. He had no words to offer._

_

* * *

_

"I'll just go home," Wilson said, heading for the door. "I didn't come over here to be abused." He yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him. As he did so, the rain started to pour again. "Wonderful," he muttered furiously as he walked away from the apartment and towards a covered area that the apartment dwellers parked their cars. "Just wonderful."

* * *

Wilson sat on a bench feeling a little bad for leaving Greg's house in such a way. He knew Greg was sarcastic and that he had provoked the comment by pressing him about Stacy, but House had had no right to say such a thing! Muttering to himself, he dug in his pocket for his cell, forgetting that it was broken. Groaning, he walked to the payphone on the other side of the covered area.

He shoved his coins into the machine and punched in the number for a cab service. When the person on the other end answered, Wilson rattled off the address, added, "I'm in a bit of a hurry," and hung up.

'_Now I sound like everyone else_,' Wilson thought to himself. '_I sound like Stacy did when she left him after the infarction. I sound like the friends who walked out on him._' He sighed. '_I sound like everyone who ever abandoned him until I was the only one left. And now I'm leaving..._'

* * *

"_You knew I didn't want this," House roared at Cuddy from his hospital bed as Wilson rounded the corner and nearly entered House's room. He decided it was better if he didn't enter just yet and waited outside. "You knew and you still let her!"_

_Wilson flinched and he wasn't even the one who had been yelled at. '_They'll be OK_,' Wilson told himself. '_He and Lisa are almost as close as he and I are. They'll be OK_.'_

"_I didn't have a choice," Cuddy said tearfully. _

_The door was slightly open and many people in the hospital were listening to Dr. Cuddy and Dr. House. Wilson glared at them but they didn't react._

"_I'll never be able to trust you again either!" House screamed. "Get out," he demanded, "I can't even be near you right now, let alone look at you."_

_Cuddy walked out of the room with tears streaming from her eyes. "Excuse me," she said to Wilson as she ran past him and towards the bathroom._

_Wilson watched her go with a sense of foreboding. It had been two hours since the surgery and House was finally awake enough to comprehend what was going on around him. Gathering himself up, he opened the door and walked in to see his best friend._

_House glared at him when he entered. "Why didn't you stop it?"_

"_I didn't know," Wilson said, trying hard not to flinch at the anger in his friend's voice._

"_Don't lie to me," House spat at him. "You and Stacy probably worked together to do this."_

"_Greg," Wilson pleaded._

"_Don't address me as if I'm your friend," House said furiously. "How dare you think that I'd call you a friend after this?"_

_Wilson flinched and closed his eyes to stop the tears. He felt like he'd just been slapped. "I didn't know," he said forcefully. "I honestly didn't know." He looked at House who was lying stiffly on the bed. Wilson knew House was pretending to ignore him but that he would listen to every word Wilson said. So Wilson began his story about what happened before Stacy had the surgery done._

"_Stacy told me you wanted to be put in to a coma and asked what I thought. I told her that if you were in that much pain then it was probably in your best interest. She thanked me and told me to go home." Wilson looked at House and saw that his friend was clenching his jaw. Wilson sighed and sat down in the chair by the bed before continuing. _

"_I was exhausted. I'd been at the hospital for nearly three days straight, taking shifts with Stacy to make sure someone was always at your side. I thought it was smart of you to ask to be in the coma since you seemed to be in so much pain. I knew you'd be out for a while so I went home and slept for nearly fourteen hours." Tears were rolling down Wilson's cheeks but his voice was still pretty steady._

"_I called Stacy after I'd eaten breakfast to see how you were doing and she told me I ought to come to the hospital because there was something she needed to tell me and she didn't want to tell me on the phone." Wilson's voice broke. "I thought you'd died! I was so scared." He saw House's lip quirk upwards but his eyes remained stony._

"_When I got to the hospital Stacy took one look at my face and assured me you weren't dead. I knew something was wrong and when I asked her she told me that you didn't ever want to speak to her again." Wilson took a deep breath to steady himself. "She told me what she did. How she used the proxy over Cuddy so that you would have the surgery."_

"_If I'd known what she was planning I would have stayed at the hospital," Wilson said, his voice broken but serious. "I would have tried to talk her out of it. I would have done something, anything, to help you."_

_House turned to look at Wilson. "Do you agree with what she did?"_

_Wilson shook his head. "Her actions were wrong."_

"_She says she saved my life," House commented. "What do you think?"_

"_Who can tell?" Wilson asked. "We'll never know." He knew that was what House wanted to hear, but he also knew it was true. Stacy may have ruined House's chance of ever walking normally again, but she may have saved his life. There was no knowing and Wilson didn't want his friend to dwell on it._

"_Cuddy should have refused," House said furiously. "She conspired with Stacy to do this."_

_Wilson blinked. He knew Cuddy had had no choice and was about to say so when Stacy walked in to the room. _

"_James…" Stacy began but Wilson leapt out of the chair to give them privacy. _

"_I'll be back," he told House and quickly walked out of the room and turned down the hall. He was going to find Cuddy._

_He took the elevator up to cardiology in search of her. She was head of that department so he figured she had to be in there somewhere. _

_When he reached her office he saw that she wasn't there and he frowned. She had to be somewhere in cardio…_

"_Can I help you, Dr. Wilson?" a nurse asked. _

"_Have you seen Dr. Cuddy?" Wilson asked, barely registering that the nurse was a pretty Hispanic girl._

"_I think she's in diagnostics," the nurse, Coral, answered. _

_Wilson nodded his thanks and headed for the elevator._

_

* * *

_

"_Lisa?" Wilson ventured when he reached diagnostics and saw Cuddy sitting in House's office chair. _

"_Did you talk to him?" she asked, sniffling. _

_Wilson looked at Cuddy's tear streaked face and his heart went out to her. She was only two years older than he was and had known House since she'd started working at the hospital five years before. They'd been friendly rivals ever since she'd started working there and they'd been named Head of their separate departments in the same year. It was rumored that Cuddy would be the next hospital administrator since the current one was retiring. Wilson thought she deserved the post and was capable of it._

"_Yeah," he said. "He's furious."_

"_He blames me," Cuddy informed him. "I'm sure you heard him yelling."_

_Wilson nodded glumly. "I did."_

"_He hates me now," Cuddy said sadly. "I could deal with that but he hates Stacy too."_

_Wilson frowned. "He loves her."_

_Cuddy nodded. "I know. But I don't think he will forgive her." She sighed. "For his sake, I hope he does. You know how Greg can be when he puts his mind to something. If he convinces himself that he hates Stacy, he'll never forgive her."_

_Wilson felt as if he had been struck. He knew how much Greg and Stacy loved each other. He'd known them both long enough to know that they had a kind of happiness and love that he'd never had with his past two wives. It was something he wanted and something he felt that House deserved. "He might be mad at her, but he won't leave her."_

"_But will she leave him?" Cuddy asked, her eyes searching Wilson's._

"_It's probably best if we don't think about that," Wilson told her; not wanting to think about what might be a good possibility._

_Cuddy nodded and wiped her eyes. She was embarrassed to cry, especially over something in which she had no control. "He hates me," she whispered._

_Wilson moved closer to her and hugged her. "He doesn't hate you. He was mad."_

_She let Wilson hold her, not caring about how she looked anymore. "I shouldn't have treated him."_

"_Stacy asked you to," Wilson said gently. "You're the best in your department."_

"_It was a conflict of interest," Cuddy protested pulling away from Wilson and looked him seriously in the eyes. "I knew better."_

"_He might have died," Wilson argued. "You couldn't have stood by and watched Greg die."_

"_I know," Cuddy replied. "But I don't know if I can watch him suffer for the rest of his life either." _

_Wilson noticed that her eyes were no longer full of tears and she had a steely resolve in her. "Come on; let's go see how he's doing. I left him with Stacy. Maybe they've reconciled." He knew that the words were just false hope but he had to say something._

_

* * *

_

_When they reached the House's room Stacy had gone and House was lying on his back watching TV. _

"_I don't want any visitors," House snapped at them when the door opened. _

"_I'm your doctor, not your visitor," Cuddy said to him and went over to the machines. _

"_I don't want you to be my doctor," House told her, taking a sadistic pleasure in her hurt expression._

"_I'll leave in a minute," Cuddy said, the hurt creeping into her voice. _

_Wilson glared at House but House didn't see the glare – his eyes were angrily following Cuddy. _

"_Done," she said after a few minutes. "I'll get Dr. Morgra to cover you from now on." As she walked out of the door she added evilly, "You probably won't need my department much longer. Physical therapy is all ready looking over your files. I bet Polvaski will handle the PT himself."_

_House gave her a horrible look as she left the room but he didn't say anything to._

_Wilson, on the other hand, was taken aback by the hatred in House's glare and the evil in Cuddy's voice. They'd always been rivals but the rivalry had always been friendly. To see Cuddy threatening House with a doctor he hated was more than rivalry, it was revenge. _

_He shook his head when that thought came to him. Revenge wasn't something you did to your friend, especially after something like this. _

"_Well?" House demanded of Wilson. _

"_Huh?" Wilson asked stupidly. What had he done this time?_

"_Are you going to stay or go?"_

"_Stay," Wilson answered, knowing very well that there was more behind that question, and flopped in to a chair._

_

* * *

_

_In the course of one week many people had stopped visiting House. House had never been a popular guy but he'd had a few friends. Most of them had been his lacrosse buddies and they'd stopped by after the surgery. When House's sharp tongue had pissed them off to the point where they refused to come back, Wilson found himself hoping that some people would still stand by Greg; but he learned that if he tried to force people on his friend then House just got worse. Soon it was to the point that Wilson, Stacy, and Cuddy were the only ones still trying. _

_Well, Wilson was still trying. _

_Cuddy had given up on ever being friends with Greg again and, though it obviously pained her to admit it, she was no more than another lying doctor to him. She would stop by when House was asleep and ask Wilson how he was doing._

_Wilson always told her he was doing fine. _

_It was a lie. _

_Stacy had told Wilson that she had started to move her stuff out of Greg's apartment and she was moving in with her friend Natasha and Natasha's husband Michael until she could find a place to stay permanently. Wilson had done all that he could to convince her to stay but after a week of House telling her how much he hated her or just not telling her anything at all, she'd given up. _

"_I wish you wouldn't leave him," Wilson told her after House had been in the hospital for three weeks. He noticed that her face was pained but he ignored it._

"_I don't want to go," she told him. "But I have to. He's never going to forgive me and I just can't deal with the looks of hatred he gives me. Maybe one day he'll understand but that day just isn't anytime soon."_

_Wilson sighed. He had no words to offer Stacy because he knew what she said was true. The only reason Wilson hadn't left House was because he knew how much it hurt to have someone betray you. His last wife had betrayed him and he'd cheated on his first. He couldn't let House suffer alone but he'd counted on Stacy to help him._

"_I've got to go talk to him," Stacy said quietly. "I've got my stuff in the car and Natasha and Michael are waiting for me at their house."_

_Wilson nodded and watched Stacy open the door to House's room. She smiled at Wilson through the glass for a moment before she pulled the blinds shut. _

_Wilson couldn't watch any longer so he headed to his office to work on charts._

"_Bye," Stacy said from Wilson's doorway._

_

* * *

_

_Wilson looked up and smiled at her a little. He noticed that she had tears in her eyes but that she looked unwilling to let them fall. "Yeah."_

"_Good luck," she told him quietly and turned to leave. _

_Wilson got to his feet and followed her out of his office. "You don't have to go." He wanted to try one more time._

_Stacy turned around and smiled at him. She was thirty-nine and had seen more of the unfairness in the world than the thirty-one year old before her had but she would listen to him one last time. _

_Wilson put his hands on his hips. "Stay, Stacy."_

"_I can't," she answered sadly thinking that if this was his way of trying to convince her to stay he was doing a horrible job._

"_He needs you," Wilson said._

"_No he doesn't." She sighed when she saw him run a hand through his hair. "You'll take care of him."_

_Wilson scoffed. "He's my friend."_

"_Make sure he doesn't fall," Stacy said as she turned to walk away. _

"_Stacy!" Wilson called after her. _

"_Yeah?" she asked, turning around. _

"_I'll try." He didn't want her to go but he knew now that she wouldn't stay. Nothing he could say would keep her at the hospital and he knew that she had handed in her resignation weeks before and that she couldn't stay now._

_Stacy nodded and walked in to the elevator with tears rolling down her cheeks._

_

* * *

_

_A month later Cuddy was made administrator and House was sent home. _

_Wilson wasn't sure how long it would take his friend to return but he missed him at the hospital. Sure, he saw Greg every afternoon when he drove him over to the hospital for physical therapy but it wasn't the same. _

_Department of Diagnostic Medicine was emptied of its residents and was closed with the promise of opening when House returned. It turned out that the department wouldn't open for another four months and it hurt Wilson when his friend returned. _

_House had a new cane and threatened to hit people with it when they asked him how he was feeling or if he needed any help. Even his old residents avoided going near him. For four years Cuddy let him escape from the rest of the staff and avoided him when she could. She didn't excuse him from cases but since he still saved lives she didn't bother him too much about the clinic or his lack of teamwork._

_A resident or two was assigned to his department but they were only there for a few months and they never asked to stay longer. After a while she told him he had to hire someone._

_When he got the call from Rowan Chase about the position, he listened to the man and told him to have his son submit his résumé. House hired Robert Chase a month later and Wilson hoped that it would help to bring his friend out of the depression that was settling in. _

_He hated watching House pop painkillers but knew that Greg needed them. Sometimes Wilson wondered how his friend's liver was faring but he never asked too many questions. When the physical therapist stopped writing the scripts, James took over without comment. _

_After a few more months, House hired the beautiful Allison Cameron who was followed a few months later by Eric Foreman. Wilson was impressed by House's intelligent team and it got on his nerves when he saw them sitting around. _

"_They do work, don't they?" he teased one day, earning himself an annoyed look from House. _

"_Yes, _Wilson_, I do," House said, saying Wilson's name like it was a bad thing and Wilson never commented again. _

_He and House were still friends; they were still as close as they had been before, but Wilson wouldn't lie to himself and say that his friend was the same. House was much more bitter than he had ever been and his cynicism was a lot harsher. When they were alone House seemed almost forget about his leg but the memory and the pain were never completely gone._

_

* * *

_

The cab pulled up and honked at Wilson and Wilson felt bad. He couldn't leave House like that even if the comment had been incredibly mean. House had said worse things to him before and he wasn't going to let something so stupid drive him away.

"You call for a cab?" the driver asked.

"No," Wilson lied. "You must have got the wrong address."

The driver swore and drove off looking angry. It was obvious the driver knew Wilson had called him and was no longer interested in a ride.

Wilson got off of the bench and walked back over to House's apartment. He knocked on the door, knowing better than to barge in after a fight.

"You forget something?" House demanded when he opened the door.

"No," Wilson said and slithered by.

House nodded. "Stay or go?"

"Stay," he answered and flopped down in to a chair like he had so many years before.


	13. Julie

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me. The definition at the bottom comes from Webster's Dictionary.

**Warnings:** In this chapter I've made Julie rather nice…I don't know why, she just turned out that way.

**A/N: **Sorry for taking longer than normal, please review! I always welcome them. Just so you guys know, I only have two more chapters planned. There will be a sequel! I promise you that.

**Chapter 13: Julie**

Wilson woke at eight the next morning with a crook in his neck. He cursed himself for sleeping in a chair and went to go find the ibuprofen. If he was going to deal with Julie and divorce lawyers, he wanted to be in as little physical pain as possible because signing papers and discussing which of his things she wanted would give him a big enough headache itself.

"Morning," House grunted at him when he returned from the medicine cabinet.

Wilson nearly jumped out of his skin; he hadn't expected to see House creep out of some room even if it was his bedroom. "Why are you up?"

House gave him an annoyed look. "Some of us have to work today, Mother."

Wilson raised his eyebrows. He knew that tone and the look House had given him and Wilson just wasn't in the mood to deal with his pissy friend. "Could you drop me at my house on the way to work?"

"Call a cab," House snapped at him and hobbled off to the bathroom with a change of clothes tucked under his arm.

Wilson sighed and watched his friend hobble away. House's limp was much more pronounced that morning and it looked as though he was in more pain than usual. Wilson almost asked how Greg was feeling but bit his tongue knowing that a question or comment wouldn't be welcome. Instead, he went to House's kitchen and poured himself a glass of juice. He hated breakfast but needed a little bit of strength to deal with Julie and the lawyer.

* * *

"You ready?" House demanded of him twenty minutes later. 

"For?" Wilson asked a little nervously. A question like that from House was always best to answer with a question. If he said 'yes' he could be agreeing to sell his soul to the devil or he could be agreeing to do House's clinic hours. Neither one of those were very enticing to him and in House's opinion they were about the same thing.

"A ride to your house," House answered and smirked a little when Wilson let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," Wilson answered with a sigh.

House snorted and grabbed his keys from the counter. "Let's go."

Wilson followed him out the door and noticed how badly House was limping. He bit his lip, knowing that it was best not to ask even though he wanted to. His concern was never really appreciated. He thought of a more neutral question. "You out of Vicodin yet?"

"I've got one left but I'm saving it," House answered, unlocking his car.

Wilson gave him a strange look. "For what? Cuddy? Clinic? Cameron?"

"Well, the first two are obvious," House answered with a small grin.

"Oh, well, I guess so," Wilson said dubiously while getting into the car and buckling his seatbelt. He personally liked Cuddy, they were old friends, but he would never bring that up with House. He'd tried to do that after the infarction and House had yelled at him for a good twenty minutes.

"And Cameron," House said thoughtfully. "Well, I don't dislike Cameron."

Wilson choked a laugh. "Well, that's good news! I thought you hated your whole team."

"No," House answered curtly. "I like them."

Wilson stared at him. "Well, I'll have to remember that."

"If you tell them," House warned, shaking his cane as he too got in the car.

Wilson chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't."

"Cameron's still getting over me," House said with a cocky grin. "If she knew I liked them she would probably try again."

"God you're arrogant," Wilson told him. "And I don't think you need to worry about Cameron. She's got Chase."

House made a face.

"Ha!" Wilson said triumphantly.

"What?" House demanded. "I don't like her."

"So, what? You just don't want to see her skipping down the hall hand-in-hand with Chase?" Wilson asked with a smug grin on his face. He loved when he managed to catch House like this.

"I don't think Chase would skip," House informed him. "He's a little too restrained."

"That's true," Wilson said, knowing the conversation was over.

After a few minutes House spoke again with a hesitant voice.

"I need you to write for me."

"I don't have my pad on me," Wilson said apologetically. "I lock it up in my office."

House cursed fluently.

"Ask Cuddy. She'd do it for you." Wilson wished he had his pad on him because he could see the pain etched in House's face but he never brought it home with him. He didn't want to lose it and have some junkie prescribe things for himself.

"I'd rather eat glass," House said spitefully.

"Cameron?" Wilson asked but when he saw the look on House's face he quickly said, "You're right. She'd fuss too much."

"Maybe there'll be some hypochondriac in the clinic I can prescribe for and switch the pills for candy like I did last time," he said to himself more than to Wilson.

"What!" Wilson demanded and turned his head to look at his friend. "When did you do that?"

"Relax," House said sulkily, cursing himself for saying anything. Now Wilson would worry. "I haven't done it in a while."

"I don't care when you did it," Wilson said furiously. "The point is that you did. That's dangerous!" If House was doing that sort of thing then he was more addicted than Wilson had originally thought.

"Shut up," House snapped. He didn't need to be badgered by Wilson. He's taken a Vicodin that morning but with only one left he was getting stressed. If Wilson was going to yell at him he was just going to ignore him.

Wilson sighed and said nothing until they pulled up at his house.

"Good luck," House said honestly when he pulled up in the drive.

Wilson nodded. "I'll probably need it." He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He started to walk to his door but turned around after a few steps. "House!" he called before his friend could drive off.

"What?" House asked, clearly annoyed.

"Ask Foreman to write you a script. He'll do it with no questions asked," Wilson told him.

"Good idea," House said and drove off. It was true that he could ask Foreman for a script and that Foreman would give it to him, but he thought it was probably best not to give that sort of power to Foreman. Besides, Foreman was a good charter and would definitely put it down in House's medical chart and would get to see how often Wilson prescribed for him. Letting Foreman have that kind of information would only earn him disgusted looks from the oldest of his staff.

"Guess I'll ask Chase," House muttered to himself. Chase would do it and he would probably say nothing about it ever again since the man seemed to feel that House's personal life wasn't his business or something he really wanted to know about. Deciding to ask Chase when he got to the hospital, House smiled to himself and sped up a little.

* * *

Wilson looked at the clock on his bedside dresser and sighed with relief. He had an hour to get to the lawyers and that was plenty of time. He'd called a cab twenty minutes before and had taken a shower as well. He'd notified the insurance company of his accident and they'd worked out a deal. The money they were going to give him wasn't much since he'd caused the accident but it was enough and he could put it towards a new car – something he'd have to get very soon. 

He heard a car horn and knew his cab had arrived. He was still in his bedroom at the time and was looking at the anti-depressants House had prescribed for him. It seemed like it would be a good idea to stave off his depression but Wilson didn't want to have the placebo affect with his pills like Greg did. Ignoring the pills, he quickly threw an overcoat on, grabbed his wallet, pocketed his keys, and walked out the door.

* * *

Wilson walked out of the law offices at one in the afternoon feeling drained. It had taken three hours to get everything done and he wondered how long ago Julie had filed. It normally took a while to get paperwork done so he figured she had filed a least a month before. His heart sank at the thought. If she'd filed a month ago then she'd been cheating for at least six. 

He heard footsteps behind him and almost barked at Julie to go away when he saw that it was she who had followed him towards the curb and a payphone.

"Need a ride, James?" Julie asked kindly. "I'm going your way."

Wilson was taken aback; he had thought she was going to start yelling at him.

"I understand if you don't want to," she said quickly, seeing the apprehension in his eyes. "I was just trying to be nice. We've got to be civil for a few weeks more."

He smirked a little at that and he saw her brown eyes dancing. For a second he saw the woman he'd fallen in love with and smiled a real smile at her. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he smiled at Julie; really smiled at her. "You don't mind?"

"Mind what?" Julie asked. "Being civil to you? No, I can deal with that."

Wilson glared at her a little and she laughed. It hurt him to see how happy she was. Granted, she was probably just trying to be nice but he hadn't seen her laugh or had her tease him in a long time. She normally snapped at him or told him to go to the store and buy her some weird soy thing that he hated.

"Come on," she said, nodding in the direction of her car. "I don't mind giving you a ride."

"Thanks," he told her and followed her to her Mercedes. He hoped she wasn't about to ask him a bunch of stupid questions or demand that he pay her an arm and a leg in alimony. There was no chance she'd be getting anymore money out of him – he'd had her sign an agreement when they got married.

"How badly did you break your wrist?" she asked him when they were in the car.

"Not too badly," he answered, feeling relieved that she wasn't going off on him. "It'll heal in about six or seven weeks."

"How's your car?"

"A lot worse off than my wrist," he answered darkly, startling a laugh out of her.

"It could be worse," Julie said to him.

"What could?" he asked.

"Your wrist," Julie answered.

"Yeah," he said, "but I'm happy it's not!"

She grinned. "You could have cracked your head open."

"Thanks, Julie," Wilson said sarcastically.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," she told him and gave him a grin that sort of reminded him of House. That thought scared him and he looked away.

"How's work?" he asked her. If she could use small talk to pass the time in the car then so could he.

"Great!" she said happily. She ran a restaurant with her sister and had always enjoyed it. "How about you? Is it still really depressing?"

"It's about the same as always," he answered, trying to turn her off of the subject.

It didn't work.

"My brother Daniel was telling me about an oncologist that is getting sued for making a mistake," Julie told him.

"Well, that's why we have malpractice insurance," Wilson said, wishing she would stop talking. He didn't want to hear about this, he had enough to deal with!

"I know," Julie answered, oblivious to Wilson's annoyance and discomfort. "But this doctor sounded like an idiot."

'_Oh, God, here we go_,' Wilson thought. "What did he do?" If asking questions would get her to hurry up, he would pretend to be interested.

"He treated this woman for cancer when she didn't have any," Julie said.

"How'd he manage that?" Wilson asked, trying not to sound bored.

"Daniel said that he didn't read the pathology report," Julie answered. "Well, he did the first time but the pathologist did another biopsy and discovered it wasn't cancer and the oncologist didn't read the report. The woman died from the chemo."

"That's horrible," Wilson said. He'd never made a mistake like that and never wanted to. Since he'd become Head of Oncology he had the biopsies checked three times, each time by two doctors and one pathologist. He also made sure that all of the reports were given to him so that if anything looked sketchy he could do a check of his own.

"I know," Julie said, wrinkling her nose. "It's sort of scary that there are doctors out there that make mistakes on reports or don't do their charts."

Wilson nearly laughed when she said that. Greg did that sort of thing all the time but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Well, we're here," Julie informed him after twenty minutes more of small talk.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks, Julie." He opened the door and dug his keys out of his pocket.

"James," she called.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around.

"I'll see you in a few weeks at the hearing," she said, looking as though she wanted to say more but couldn't.

"Yeah; I'll see you," he told her and unlocked the door.

"Take care of yourself!" she called and drove off.

Wilson sighed and went into his empty house.

Julie had been oddly pleasant and he felt bad about the way he'd been treating her but reminded himself that it hadn't all been his fault.

* * *

Two hours later, he picked up the phone and dialed his brother's number. 

"Hello?" a woman's voice asked on the other end.

"Hey, Hannah, it's James," he told her.

"Hi, Jim!" she said, sounding pleased.

"How are you?" he asked.

"A little nauseous," she said with a little laugh.

"Are you sick?" he asked, concerned. He really liked Hannah; she was such a sweet woman and she loved his brother more than life itself.

"David didn't tell you?" she asked.

"Tell me what?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant!"

"That's wonderful!" he said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we're excited," she said happily. "Hang on; I'll get David for you."

"OK," he said. He was happy for his brother and his wife. They had been trying to have a baby for the last year or so and Wilson knew that they were pleased.

"Jim?"

"Hey, David," Wilson said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," he said and Wilson knew he was grinning. "What's up?"

"Not too much," Wilson answered. "I was thinking about driving up to see Mom and Dad and I was wondering if you guys would mind a visit."

"Of course not," David said. "Come whenever you want."

"Great," Wilson said. "I'll probably be there in a day or two. I've got to call Mom first and see if they'll be around."

"Wonderful. Give us a call when you're on your way." David sounded excited and Wilson was happy about that. He didn't want to impose on his brother.

"OK, see you in a few days."

"Bye," David said and hung up.

Wilson smiled a little to himself and called his parents.


	14. Parents

**Title: **When Life Gives You Lemons

**Relationships: **All friendship

**Rating: **T/M

**Warning: **Nothing too bad. Mild language I guess…

**Spoilers: **Season 1

**Disclaimer: **I am not making any profit from this fan fiction, all recognizable characters belong to FOX and all of the others belong to me.

**A/N: **So sorry about how long this update took me. I've been working on school work. My English professor is a NIGHTMARE! (But I do like her) We're doing this thing on a poem called Ithaca and I think I've finally got the answer to the riddle. Okay, now that I've finished my rant, I hope you'll enjoy. You can actually thank _itisntme_, _Rennie51_, and _Leyna_ for the update because they brought my muse back with their reviews. Sorry this chapter is so short!

**Chapter 14: Parents**

That evening Wilson had started to put some of his things into a duffle bag. He'd spoken to his parents and they had said they would love to get a visit and he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted. It had been a relief to hear that they were doing well and were thrilled about becoming grandparents when Hannah had her baby. His mother had scolded him a little for not coming to see them at Chanukah but she hadn't been angry. His mom had asked him how things were and he said they would talk when he got there. When his parents were convinced he was fine they had let him go pack.

Before he'd called his parents he had called a rent-a-car place and had had them reserve a Honda Civic. He didn't want to drive anything too flashy and Hondas were reliable so he'd told them to choose any color they wanted and he'd pick it up that evening. He only had two hours before the place closed so he called a cab to pick him up.

Once he got the car he'd head over to the mall and get himself a new phone. He'd need one when he was gone because his pager wouldn't suffice. He couldn't take two weeks away from work and expect for everything to go smoothly back at the hospital. If he had a phone then his people would be able to get into contact with him if something was going on.

He'd finished packing when the taxi driver rang his doorbell so he threw on an overcoat, grabbed his house keys and wallet, and headed out the door.

---

House left work at nine that evening with a mostly-full bottle of pills in his pocket. Chase had written for him without batting an eye; handing over a script as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

"_Take it when the pain is bad," Chase had said when he gave him the piece of paper. _

_House had taken it from the outstretched hand with a nod and Chase had headed off to the lab. House had always respected Chase as a doctor – he was perhaps the brightest of his team – but when Chase had betrayed him to Vogler he'd been not only angry; he'd been disappointed. Sure, Foreman had a similar personality to House's, not to mention Foreman was incredibly smart, he just didn't have the sort of character House admired in Chase. Perhaps it was because Chase had been his first duckling and he had spent more time getting to know the young man, but Chase's betrayal had hurt. _

_Shaking his head, he got his prescription filled and went about his normal day. _

He got in his car and considered heading over to Wilson's house. Wilson was starting to worry him but House wasn't sure how to express that. Whenever he tried to feel sympathy for anyone, including his best friend, it always seemed like it would have been better if he kept his mouth shut. He'd manage to piss James off more in the last few days than he had in the last few years. It was probably better if he just headed home.

He knew James was probably going to go visit his brother and sister-in-law and if he knew James as well as he thought he did then James would go to him before he left. Nodding because he knew it was probably best to let James work things out for himself; he went home and didn't glance back when he passed the street that would take him to Wilson's.

---

Wilson made himself cereal for dinner and then went to bed. He'd picked up his rental car – a silver Civic – and had gotten himself a new flip-phone at a store in the mall. It had taken a while to get everything sorted out and more than once he had wanted to snap at the teen working with him but he kept his temper to himself. Yelling at the girl wouldn't have sped things up it would have only made her think he was a jackass and he didn't want that.

He was going to leave for Hamburg in the morning and it wouldn't take him more than two hours to drive up there to his parent's house. His brother lived about ten minutes from his parent's house so he'd probably see David and Hannah every day if he didn't get around to staying with them.

Sighing, he pulled his shirt off and undid his jeans before climbing into bed wearing his boxers and an undershirt.

Thoughts ran through his mind but they were jumbled and he couldn't quite control what they were about. Mostly he thought about Julie and the divorce hearing. He'd been through that twice and knew it was a simple procedure but he couldn't help but wonder if Julie would bring her boyfriend. He was pretty sure she wasn't evil enough to bring him but he wasn't positive. She'd been nice to him at the lawyer so anything was possible.

He shifted under the blankets, wishing he could get comfortable but not quite finding the right position.

After an hour of tossing and thinking about Julie he got out of bed and decided to watch TV. He figured that watching TV would get his mind off of things and that was exactly what he needed.

---

Wilson woke at four in the morning with a horrible pain in his neck. He had fallen asleep on his couch in an awkward position and he now had rigor mortis of the neck. Wincing, he tried to rub the kink out of his neck but knew it wouldn't really help.

"I better take a shower," he muttered to himself. "I'll head out early."

Still rubbing his neck, he walked into his room and grabbed a fresh change of clothes. When he got into his shower he let the warm water hit his tired muscles and just savored feeling clean.

When he stepped out of the shower he made himself breakfast. He wasn't a great cook but he could make scrambled eggs and toast. He had to; it was about the only thing he'd eat for breakfast and if he didn't know how to make it then he'd be grumpy all morning.

After doing his dishes he grabbed his keys, wallet, and the bag he was taking with him. He felt comfortable in his jeans and t-shirt. It was still too early so he hadn't bothered with contacts and was wearing the glasses that he normally didn't let anyone see.

Checking to make sure everything was locked up and all of the lights were off in his house, he locked the door behind him and took off.

When he got in the car he was overwhelmed by the feeling of loss. He wasn't sure why it hadn't hit him before but as soon as he got in to a car that wasn't his and he saw the cast on his arm he felt tears run down his cheeks. He reached in to his bag and pulled out the bottle of antidepressants House had prescribed for him and fingered them as he drove, the tears still silently rolling down his cheeks.

"I should say goodbye," he muttered to himself and turned off the highway and towards House's place.

---

When he knocked on the door to House's place he forgot that it was only half past four in the morning and he was crying. It just didn't dawn on him until he was greeted by a furious House whose expression immediately changed from incredibly angry to incredibly concerned.

"Come in," House said, stepping aside to let Wilson in the house.

Wilson walked in the house and stumbled over to the couch. "I couldn't sleep."

House yawned. "I could until I heard pounding on my door." He leaned heavily on his cane and eyed Wilson. "Why are you here?"

"I was getting ready to go visit my parents and I just wanted to say hello," Wilson muttered, a hand over his face because he just realized he was crying. He saw that the antidepressant bottle was still in his hand and threw it at House. "Take these."

House caught the bottle and raised an eyebrow. "I think it's probably best if you take them. There might be some weird side effects if I take them with Vicodin."

He limped over and dropped them on Wilson's chest. "I know you don't want drugs, but it might be a good idea to take those."

Wilson sighed and popped open the top. He'd never taken an antidepressant before but he knew how they worked. After a second he shook his head and closed the top. "No." He looked up at House. "I don't want it to be drug induced. I want to handle things on my own."

House's mouth quirked a little and he headed to the kitchen, only to emerge a few seconds later with a glass of water. "Take a pill, James. I'm not trying to satisfy myself because I don't want to be alone with the pill popping habit. I think you need them." He held out the glass of water.

Wilson sighed again but he took the water with his non-broken arm. After a second he put a pill in his mouth and swallowed it with the water. "Speaking of pills, did you get the Vicodin script filled?"

House nodded. "Chase did it."

"Okay," Wilson said. "Good." He eyed House seriously for a moment. "You'll be good for two weeks."

"I better be," House muttered.

Wilson smiled slightly and lay back down on the couch. "I need a nap."

House nodded. "Get some sleep and then head out to see your family."

---

When Wilson woke it was past ten and House had left for the hospital. Wilson smiled a little and grabbed his keys. After a second he grabbed a pen and scrawled 'thanks' with his right hand, not caring that it looked like a two-year-old had written it.

He took one last look around House's place, feeling like he ought to just stay there. It was probably more peaceful than his parent's house was going to be. His mother loved to invite people over so there would probably be some sort of weird reunion.

---

The drive to his parent's house went faster than he had expected and he arrived just in time for lunch.

"Jimmy!" his mother cried when she answered the door, pulling him in to a tight hug. "Come in, I've made lunch."

James smiled a little and followed his mother, his duffle bag in his hand.

"Hey, Jim," his father greeted when he walked in.

"Dad," James said, going over to give his father a hug. He suddenly felt like he had just come home from med school because of the way he was dressed.

"Come on, Jimmy," his mother called from down the hall. "I've got your old bed all made up and you can stay in your room. Hannah and David are coming by for dinner so save some stories until then!"

James smiled and gave a contented sigh. Maybe getting away from everything was just what he needed.

Fingering the antidepressants that were still in his pocket, he walked down the hall to his old bedroom.


End file.
